What One Must Do
by MandyQ
Summary: When given an order... when in the service of the Dark Lord...when protecting one's family and one's life, one does what one must do. Lucius, Narcissa, and others in 1980 & 1981. COMPLETE. Please R&R. TDH Compliant. No Spoilers.
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything except a dress sort-of like is mentioned in this story. Everything herein is the property of the OS (that's Original Shipper) of L/N: a lovely woman named Rowling who got them together in the first place. I am making no money on this (except that the 1st 2 chapters have been written entirely while at work) and I mean no infringement, I promise.

A/N: Told ya I'd make it happen. I just had some research to finish before I could get started. But now I know- and here you are. FYI- there will be a 2nd chapter REALLY soon, as it was going to be a LONG 1st chapter and I've instead cut it in two.

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**August 20, 1980**

"Darling," Narcissa called to Lucius as he straightened his cravat in the mirror above the fireplace. She was nibbling at a plate of fruit as she sorted through the morning's mail in the private living room adjacent to their bedchamber. "Do remember to keep your calendar clear for a week from Sunday; it's Richard and Eileen Rosier's annual end-of-summer party." Richard and Eileen Rosier were Narcissa's aunt and uncle on her mother's side and they had thrown a party on the thirty-first of August every year in Narcissa's memory. It had always been the highlight of the summer for the children, who had just enough time to catch up with one another before returning to Hogwarts, and had continued to be a joy to attend as an adult. This year it would be particularly delightful for Narcissa, as it was to be the first social occasion she would be attending as a mother with her infant son.

"Nice try, Narcissa," Lucius sarcastically congratulated, turning to face her. He frowned at her where she sat and crossed his arms over his chest. He couldn't help but wonder if she really had any presumption of attending this soiree or if this had been a very ladylike test of whether he'd been listening to her. Either way, she was not about to get his permission to go to this party, or any other in the near future for that matter.

"Whatever do you mean?" she asked, sipping her tea.

"I mean that you know full well we're not going to any party, but I congratulate you on your attempt to trick me into attending this one."

"Oh come now," she countered. "I'd never try to trick you into anything," she told him. "I'd only wind up with egg on my face if I did. No, I merely had no reason to believe we wouldn't be attending. We've never missed one of their parties."

"There is a first time for everything, isn't there pet?" he asked, practically glowering at her. She folded her hands in her lap and looked squarely at him.

"Lucius do be reasonable," she implored.

"I am being reasonable," he answered. "It is you who refuses to acknowledge your condition."

"Condition," she snapped back at him. "I had a baby, Lucius."

"And a heart attack, Narcissa," he rebutted. "Need I remind you of that fact?"

"Need I remind you that it was nearly three months ago?" she answered back. True, Draco's birth had left her quite ill, but she was almost completely recovered now and she wanted nothing more than to return to her life and put the whole unpleasant episode behind them. "I am doing much better," she added.

"You are not well," he asserted.

"I didn't say 'well'," she countered, "I said 'better', and I am. But I've not appeared in public for…" She thought for a moment, "More than six months," she finally came up with the number.

"And it may be another six months before I allow you to," he told her. His voice was stern. As she looked at him, she was sure that her eyes clearly betrayed her annoyance and disappointment.

"Before you _allow me_ Mr. Malfoy?" she asked back. "May I remind you that I'm your wife, not your captive?"

"Someone has to look out for your health, Narcissa," he told her. "You certainly aren't doing so. I won't have you flouncing about being the belle of the ball and getting yourself all worked up until you pass out. I simply won't have it." Lucius meant it. She hadn't properly looked after herself for five whole minutes since she'd been home from hospital; always forgetting to take her potions on time and never eating enough. He was not about to give her leave to reclaim her place as the grand dame of Wizarding Britain while she was still this unwell. No, better she be a little angry with him for abbreviating her social calendar thusly than to let her go off and give herself another heart attack.

"It's a garden party, Lucius," she stressed. "It's not as though I'm asking you to take me to a ball and dance all night. I wish to sit beneath a parasol for an hour in the late summer sunshine and listen to my friends fawn all over your son. And we can bring Katy with us," she added. "She fusses over me as much as she does over the baby." Lucius was shaking his head at her. She could feel her face falling into a most unpleasant frown and as hard as she tried, she could not seem to control the tremble that had started in her lower lip.

"Don't pout, Narcissa," Lucius insisted, crossing to check on their sleeping son in his nearby bassinette. "It's unbecoming. And it won't work." He was convinced that 'sit in the summer sunshine' really meant 'play croquet until heat exhaustion sets in' like at last year's party.

"I'm not pouting," she insisted. "But did it occur to you that half of our associates have babies we've never even seen? In the last eight months or so I've bought engraved silver teacups for Leah Crabbe, Ellison Goyle, Isabelle Bulstrode, Corina Nott and Ivy Parkinson for Merlin's sake. Ivy had her little girl no more than two weeks ago and I can guarantee you she'll be there."

"Yes," Lucius half-conceded, "and I hear she was up and about and unbearable again within an hour. You, my love," he turned to look at her again, his hand still in the bassinette, "were not so fortunate. You were in hospital longer than you've since been out of it. And you are, by no means, well enough to attend a Sunday social; with or without a nurse in tow." They both heard the sudden chime of bells coming from a clock in the bedroom. "And I'm late now," Lucius commented in response to the ringing. The alarm clocks were enchanted to signal anything of immediate importance in the Malfoy household. The bells would ring in different combinations to alert them to everything from time to wake up to a possible injury or death that might occur whilst one of them was out of the house. Now they were ringing to tell Lucius that he should have been at the Ministry by now. Narcissa wasn't even sure what it was that he did there for so many hours each week, but he'd been spending enough time there that she was sure it must be important.

"Go," she allowed, her eyes downcast as a sigh escaped her lips. "We'll finish this later."

"We are quite finished," he assured her, crossing closer to where she sat. "You will send our regrets." Narcissa sighed again as he bent down and kissed her forehead. "Have a pleasant day, my pet," he said to her as he began toward the door. "Dobby, my coat!" he called into the air. A frightened looking house-elf appeared suddenly with a 'crack' and handed Lucius' summer jacket to him.

"You as well, darling," Narcissa said back to him as she watched him slip the jacket over his shoulders. They'd made it a rule a long time ago to say something pleasant in parting no matter how brutal a row one's departure was interrupting. Narcissa had once left for a luncheon during which Lucius had been summoned by the Dark Lord on a mission that lasted nearly a month and could easily have cost him his life. They'd been in an argument when she'd walked out and it had been hard on both of them to be apart so long when the last words they'd spoken to each other had been harsh ones.

"Get some rest!" he called back to her as he stepped into the hallway.

"I don't need any," she hollered back. Narcissa stood from her seat and clenched her fists. She shook her head slowly as she peered into the bassinette where her tiny son lay sleeping. She smirked down at the tiny boy and whispered to herself, "That man…"

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Remember- reviews are like Pizza… even the bad ones are better than none at all!!!

-MQ


	2. Chapter 2

That woman could be infuriating! Lucius stalked through the halls of the Ministry, cursing Narcissa under his breath. His meeting with Minister Bagnold had gone well enough, but he hadn't managed to get his wife's sad eyes out of his head all morning.

So he'd stopped by St. Mungo's. Healer-in-chief Colton would certainly back him up. It was certainly too soon for Narcissa to even begin thinking about such a thing as attending a party. But Healer Colton (and every other person at that hospital who he'd managed to talk to) had taken her side. Apparently her last check up had gone so well that all of them agreed it was high time she begin to build up her stamina again. They all thought an afternoon garden party would be good for her recovery. "Just keep her out of the direct sunlight, don't let her overexert herself, and make sure she lies down if she feels tired," he'd been told. If they thought it was better for her to go than not, then he was going to have to give in to her.

He could fight Narcissa on this all day long, but he couldn't fight the entire staff of St. Mungo's. Lucius Malfoy found himself in the very rare situation of having to admit that he had been wrong about something; and having to admit it to his wife made it doubly trying. He was willing to do whatever it was going to take to see to it that she recovered fully from her ordeal, even if that meant admitting that he'd been in error by thinking that she ought not to try and be social so soon. Not that he wasn't glad to hear the news that she was doing so well. On the contrary, he was thrilled that those charged with her care were so pleased at her recovery. But still he did not enjoy the fact that he'd been forced to admit he was wrong about something. He nearly argued right to Healer Colton's face that there was no such thing as being _over_ protective of a cardiac patient, but he'd let it go for the time being.

Lucius could only hope, as he left his third and final meeting for the day, that Narcissa hadn't contacted the Healers for the same reason. If she hadn't, then perhaps his apparent change of heart would appear to her an act of benevolence rather than an admission of his having allowed another head to prevail. And he was bringing along a gift for her to add to the air of generosity.

He strode intently past the row of fireplaces used by Ministry commuters toward the Apparition point on the first level. Dobby, his house-elf cum manservant, followed as closely as he could while carrying a box nearly as large as himself. Lucius practically sneered at the bureaucrats queuing up to Floo home from work. He hadn't much use for the Floo network, and Malfoy manor was only ever connected to it on occasions of large scale social engagements held there to which some underage witches or wizards might be invited. Lucius had never used it himself, and was more than happy to walk the extra few yards in order to Apparate home like a gentleman.

Lucius reached the Apparition point and felt suddenly the familiar sensation of his navel being cycled through his eye sockets and back again. Before he could blink his eyes, he was standing at the Gatehouse to Malfoy manor. Lucius had made it possible years ago for those who knew just how to go about it to Apparate directly onto a balcony at the northwest corner of the second floor. However, on days as sunny and pleasant as this one, he often opted to Apparate only as far as the usual boundary at the Gatehouse and walk the quarter mile up the driveway to the front of the house. He enjoyed the act of looking over his land in this way, and today he had to admit that he was taking this little stroll as an excuse to draw out the minutes until he'd have to face Narcissa and tell her she could go to the party.

Of course, he was sure that she would take this as good news. In fact, he was quite certain she'd be very happy at the prospect indeed. She wasn't likely to even cast an 'I told you so' at him, although she'd have every right to. Quite frankly, he was convinced that the news would make her nothing but pleased with him, but still he knew that he'd be admitting defeat- even if she wouldn't point it out to him; a fact which left a bad taste in his mouth no matter what the circumstance. He tried his best to concentrate on the thought of Narcissa's smile as he walked in to the house through the massive oak front door.

"Evening, Master," the unusually tall house-elf who had opened the door addressed him.

"Narmin, where is Mrs. Malfoy?" he asked, casting his jacket off onto the trembling creature.

"Missus is with young master in the small library," the elf answered. Lucius nodded and began up the stairs.

"Wait here, Dobby," he called back. "And bring that package when I call you."

"Yes master," Dobby answered him. "Dobby always does as master says." Lucius scowled as he made his way up the stairs toward his private library.

The private library was the room attached to the balcony from whence it was possible to Apparate. It contained only the darkest, rarest, and most sought after books of magic in the Malfoy collection. Several of the volumes in there had come to the manor with Narcissa, yet further proof of their compatibility, and he could only guess that she was either reading up on just how to curse him for locking her in the house or simply waiting for him to Apparate to the balcony so that she could be there to greet him.

He rounded the corner at the top of the stairs and caught sight of the nursemaid as she was about to alight the steps to the next floor. "Katy," he called out. She stopped where she was and waited for him to approach. He could see that she had his little son cradled in the crook of one arm.

"Evenin' sir," she greeted him as he neared, bobbing a tiny curtsy to him.

"Evening, Katy," he answered. Lucius reached out and took the baby from her, holding him up to get a good look. "Evening Draco," he added. The baby blinked his bright blue eyes as his father and made a tiny fussing noise. Katy grinned and took the infant back from his father.

"I'll get him changed and his bottle ready and bring him back to ya," she said. "Doesn't miss a meal, this one," she added, placing the baby on her shoulder and rubbing his back to attempt to quell the screaming that they both feared might be coming.

"And his mother?" Lucius asked. There was a reason that he got on better with Katy than with the other two girls he'd hired to take care of Draco while his mother was still in hospital. Meg and Faireen had both become allied with Narcissa in trying to keep him from worrying about her. But Katy had never been swayed. Katy was the one out of the three of them that he could trust to tell the truth about Narcissa, caring more about her well being than her good graces.

"Is it terrible that I get a bonus every time I tattle on her?" Katy asked, still patting Draco on the back. Lucius shook his head.

"Think of it as a reward for a job well done," he suggested. "And the answer to my question?" he reminded her. Katy shrugged.

"She had a fair bit at breakfast," the nursemaid answered, "but she barely touched her lunch." Lucius frowned and shook his head. "She did have two plates of ice cream at tea time," Katy added.

"That's not terribly healthy, though, is it?" he asked her, knowing the answer already.

"Not terribly, no," Katy agreed. "But I will say that it's better that she get the calories somewhere. I mean, better she eats whatever she fancies than nothing at all; at least she's got some kind of an appetite." Lucius nodded his head in deference to her opinion. She did have a point. Narcissa's having an appetite for anything at all was a vast improvement and he would just have to hope that soon enough her desire to eat would extend beyond ice cream and chocolates. "Speaking of which," Katy added, bouncing an ever-louder Draco on her shoulder, "I need to get this one's bottle ready."

"Right," Lucius agreed. "Just one more thing," he added.

"Yessir?"

"You will be accompanying us a week from Sunday to the Rosier's garden party. I'll need you to look after Draco and Narcissa while we're there." He reached into his pocket and withdrew a handful of Galleons. "Think of this as both your reward for today's information and your traveling bonus. I would not be averse to your buying yourself new robes for the occasion, as I believe it may be a bit too warm for you to attend in your uniform." Katy smiled and nodded her head as she took the coins from him and pocketed them.

"Thank you!" she exclaimed. "Oh, Mr. Malfoy, thank you very much."

"You are welcome, Katy," he said to her, smiling generously. He figured that he would have the best looking wife and baby at this blasted gathering, and he might as well have the best looking nanny, too. After all, he was quite fond of Katy, and although she was on his staff for the time being she was by no means a servant or of a servant's class. Katy was a bona fide nurse who he'd managed to hire away from the nursery at St. Mungo's with the promise of double her salary. All three of the Malfoy's nannies had come from there, and they would all three be returning to the hospital when their services were no longer necessary. Draco had been born nearly two months early, and it would be at least a year before Lucius would be willing to see him looked after by anyone less qualified than these three. But he did remember that Katy was a professional young witch and the least he thought he could do for her was to see to it that she made a good impression on all of the right people. She might even meet a suitable husband if she played her cards right. "Now take the baby upstairs before Narcissa hears him," Lucius instructed. Katy nodded at him and scurried up the stairs.

Lucius strode the rest of the way down the hall and into the private library. He saw Narcissa peek her head around from one of the chairs by the fireplace to his left. She smiled at him pleasantly, although not too warmly, and then went back to whatever she was doing. Lucius walked around the chair and bent down to kiss her cheek. She was curled up with her feet underneath her and a heavy leather-bound book on her lap. "Evening pet," he said to her. Narcissa smiled at her husband as he took the few steps further to lean on the mantle.

"Evening Lucius," she said back to him.

"Did you have a good day?" he asked her. She shrugged, closing the book in her lap and straightening herself to sit properly in the chair.

"You're looking at it," she answered back. "I sat and I read. All in all my day was the same as every other; fully uneventful. And yours?" she asked. Narcissa was really trying her best not to be sour with him, but she could hear in her own voice that she wasn't doing very well at it. Lucius, conversely, was also quite aware that she was still stuck on this morning's argument and even more so that he had ought to get on with his surprise before they managed to continue to fight.

"Minister Bagnold sends her regards," he said to her.

"That was awfully nice of her," Narcissa observed. "So were you in with the Minister all day?" Lucius shook his head.

"Not all day," he answered. "I had a few other matters to tend to," he added. "Dobby!" he called out. There was the sounding of the telltale 'crack' as the obedient house-elf appeared in the room and handed the oversized package he'd been charged with over to his master. "Now be gone with you," Lucius ordered him. Another 'crack' and Dobby disappeared again.

"Is that for me?" Narcissa asked. Lucius grinned down at her and nodded his head once.

"It is, my pet," he answered, placing the box on her lap. "I had occasion to dine in DiagonAlley this afternoon and I thought you might enjoy this." Narcissa bit her lip and looked down at the white paper box and the gold string tying it together.

"May I open it?" she asked.

"Be my guest," he allowed. Narcissa set very intently to sliding the knotted strings off of the box. Lucius wondered why she didn't just use her wand, but he didn't mind her doing it this way. The look on her face was priceless as she puzzled out how to get the package open. Once she had successfully unfastened the strings, she pulled the top off of the box and dropped it to the floor. She rooted through the layers of tissue paper until she got to the middle.

"Oh, Lucius!" she exclaimed as her hands and eyes caught hold of the white chiffon dress. "It's gorgeous!" she added, pulling the dress from the box to get a better look. The dress was cut low in the bosom and fitted through the bodice, with a tea-length A-line skirt made from yards and yards of billowy chiffon. The rest of the box fell to her feet as she held it up for inspection.

"I thought you might wear it to the Rosier's party," he said to her. Narcissa's mouth fell open and she placed the dress carefully back into the box at her feet before standing to look him in the eye.

"Do you mean it?" she asked, her face showing both glee and disbelief. Lucius just smiled at her and nodded.

"I do," he answered her. Narcissa felt her heart leap as she threw her arms around his neck.

"Thank you, Lucius," she said as she embraced him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and held on to her for a second. "Thank you," she repeated.

"Yes, pet," he affirmed. "You wanted to go so badly that I took it upon myself to seek the advice of the appropriate medical professionals. They have each assured me that it is perfectly acceptable for you to attend this gathering as long as you take care not to overexert yourself." She stepped back and looked him in the eye again.

"I will be careful, Lucius," she assured him, "you know I will."

"I know you will, pet," he agreed. "And we will be taking Katy with us," he added.

"We can take all three of the nursemaids if you'd like," she allowed. Lucius grinned at his wife.

"No need for that," he told her. "Katy alone will suffice. I've already discussed it with her." Narcissa smiled gleefully at him. That smile was worth whatever he might have lost in conceding the party to her. If he could only see that smile every day he would be happy enough to attend a million garden parties.


	3. Chapter 3

"Mrs. Malfoy," Lucius bellowed through the front door in to the foyer of the manor. "If you do not hurry yourself we shall leave without you!" He shook his head and checked his watch for what must have been the eleventh time. He'd been waiting by the carriage for more than fifteen minutes by his accounting. Katy had the baby all packed up and the driver was all set with directions. Now they had only to wait for Narcissa. And wait they did. She was the one who wanted to go to this blasted party to begin with and Lucius had no clue as to what she might be doing to delay their departure so. He looked over at Katy, who was bouncing Draco in her arms and trying to get him to take hold of a silver rattle from one of her hands.

"I'm coming, Lucius," Narcissa called down. He peered into the house again, but saw no sign of her. Lucius shook his head and shrugged.

"Do you think you could get her down any faster?" he asked Katy. She had a bemused look on her face that told him she might just know something he didn't. The nursemaid shook her head.

"Just be patient with her, Mr. Malfoy," Katy answered. "She's not been among people in quite some time and she's been fretting all morning over what she looks like. Especially she's been worried about her hairstyle. She's been asking me over and over for days how ladies are wearing their hair this season. I've had to bring by _Witch Weekly_ and help her look through the society pages of the _Daily Prophet_ going back for months. She's afraid of embarrassing both of you if she doesn't look just as beautiful today as she ever did before this little one came along." Lucius put his fingers to his temples and shook his head. So that's what was taking her so bloody long? She was worried that she wouldn't look beautiful enough to go to her damned aunt and uncle's silly little party?

Infernal woman; how could she not know that she was beautiful no matter how her hair was done? And besides that, how could a lady as intelligent as his wife not realize that their friends and family would barely give a damn about how she was wearing her hair, instead opting to be thrilled that she was alive and well enough to be in attendance at all. No matter how long they were married, there were some things he figured he would just never understand about her.

Just as he was ready to charge up the steps and drag his wife out to the carriage by her elbow, she appeared before him in the doorway. Lucius almost lost his breath at the sight of her; this had been worth waiting to see. Narcissa was wearing the dress he'd bought her. It was white and flowing and showed off the curve of her bosom better than he could have imagined. She'd paired it with a sash of the palest pink color which matched a ribbon and cameo tied around her neck. She had on kid gloves and white low-heeled button shoes and held her shawl and parasol in her hand. Her hair was fastened up off her neck with a few perfect tendrils curling down onto her shoulders at intervals. She smiled tentatively at him as she stepped through the doorway and onto the stoop.

Lucius held out his hand to her as she began down the front steps. "Do you like it?" she asked him. Like it? Had she gone daft? She was so stunning in her white dress with her rosy cheeks and genuine smile that Lucius had no recourse but to tell her the absolute and unabashed truth.

"My dear," he said back to her as he helped her into the carriage, "you look good enough to eat." He grinned up at her and circled the conveyance to get in on her other side. Katy had already situated little Draco in his basket on the opposite bench of the open carriage and seated herself beside the driver. Lucius sat down next to his wife and took her hand as the driver clucked to the horses and they began their journey.

"I'd take you up on that offer," Narcissa flirted, leaning in to him just enough to be sure that he could hear but no one else could, "but I fear that would make us very late." Lucius felt his jaw drop open. Had she just proposed what he thought she had?

Narcissa looked at him sideways through half-lidded eyes. She hadn't really meant to be so forward, but he had left that remark just hanging there for her to pounce on. She'd been plotting for days to try and get his attention, and she figured by his comment that perhaps she had. Lucius had been awfully attentive to her since their son was born, but he had yet to allow himself certain rights that she had begun to miss heartedly, even hunger for if she really thought about it. Perhaps if he'd taken the Healers at their word- that it was time she be allowed some degree of activity- maybe he would be willing to entertain the notion of fully resuming their physical relationship.

"Are you really feeling as well as all that?" he asked her. Lucius was intrigued. If Narcissa was really thinking about what he thought she might be thinking about, then he didn't care if they never got to the party. Narcissa bit her lower lip and nodded her head.

"Mm-hmm," she answered. "And I'm not likely to feel any less inclined toward such activities later in the day," she added. Lucius smiled at her wryly and shivered a little bit. He'd waited for a signal like that one for weeks and weeks, and leave it to Narcissa to make him wait through an entire afternoon. Only his wicked wife would force him to behave himself like a gentleman in front of all the wealthy party guests at the Rosiers' when all the while all he really wants to do is take her on the first available piece of furniture. He would make her pay for this; of that he was certain, although just how to do it had yet to occur to him.

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Does it even count as a three-chapter day if I had 4 chapters finished before bed and I ONLY posted three? Well, if FFDN stays up now (the 1st chapter took forever to be able to access through the front page), I hope you'll check again in the morning for the next installment and maybe another tomorrow afternoon… I'm planning something very Malfoy for Valentine's day… PLEASE leave me a review… or 3 (that's 1 per chapter…hint hint) and make my Valentine's day happier!!

-MQ


	4. Chapter 4

The Rosiers' manor was also in side Wiltshire County and therefore a rather quick trip by carriage. Draco had begun to fuss and fret when they were barely past the gates to their own estate and Lucius had quieted him by taking the baby out of his traveling basket and perching him on his knee. Lucius had made a game of pointing out to his son all of the important landmarks on the way; not the least of which being their own property line. Narcissa had thought him a little ridiculous pointing out to an infant such things as the boundaries of the lands he was to someday inherit, but it was sweet the way he related to his son as though he could understand. And either way, it kept the little one quiet until they arrived at the Rosiers'.

The carriage had hardly stopped before Narcissa bounded out of it and onto the stone walkway of her aunt and uncle's home. Lucius was a bit astonished at the way she'd leapt from her seat without waiting for him to help her down, but he knew her reasons as soon as she'd opened her mouth.

"Darly Rosier!" she called out. "Come here and let me kiss my newest cousin!" Narcissa scurried up the stairs as a young girl with brown ringlets and wearing a lavender frock and bonnet came rushing toward her. The two ladies kissed each other's cheeks and then Narcissa took the younger girl by her elbows. "You look radiant, dear," she said. "Married life agrees with you." Darly had married Narcissa's cousin Evan just over two months previous and the two women hadn't seen each other in twice that amount of time.

"As motherhood agrees with you," Darly asserted. "You must wake up looking that gorgeous," she accused. Narcissa chuckled.

"You're too kind," she told Darly. "If you'd have seen me this morning you'd surely think otherwise." She took the younger girl by the arm and began to walk toward the open front door of the manor house. "I must apologize to you again that we were unable to attend your wedding," she added.

"Narcissa you were in a coma," Darly replied, "You've done me no disservice by not having been in attendance. And the silver service you had sent over is exquisite."

"I'm glad you liked it." Narcissa grinned at her. "And please tell me that you've a photo album from your recent nuptials, I'd just die if I don't get to see everything I missed."

"Of course you can see it," Darly answered, squeezing her arm. "Now you please tell me that you've brought the baby with you." Narcissa nodded and then turned her head back to the carriage she'd just vacated.

"Katy!" she called, "Come and let me introduce the two newest members of the family!" Katy scurried over to where the two women were standing, just inside the doorway.

"May I?" Darly asked, regarding the baby. Narcissa nodded her approval and Katy obliged Darly by handing over the sleeping infant. Darly smiled down at the bundle in her arms.

"I'm afraid you may be quite bored today, Katy," Narcissa told her nursemaid. "I'm not sure that either one of us will see Draco again until time to go home." Katy chuckled.

"Tis how it should be with so much family about," Katy answered. "But I'm within earshot," she added before bobbing a curtsy and walking further into the house.

"Darly Rosier," Narcissa addressed her cousin again, "meet Draco Cygnus Abraxas Malfoy."

"Draco," Darly said down to the tiny boy. "I love it," she then said to Narcissa. "Draco Malfoy. It's perfect. And he's perfect."

"He is, isn't he?" Narcissa agreed, peering at her sleeping child. Of course she thought he was perfect, with his white blonde hair and bright blue eyes; but it was always nice when other people thought so too. "And he's every bit a Malfoy, too," she added. "Except for his nose and his chin," she amended, "those are Black and Rosier, in that order, and both came straight from me."

"This house is simply full up with babies today," Darly shared, walking with Draco a little farther in to the vestibule. "But he's the prettiest I've ever seen," she added. Narcissa had to smile at that. Draco was the prettiest baby she'd ever seen, too. "Makes me want one," Darly shared.

"Well, that's a perfectly respectable thing for a young bride to want, Darly," Narcissa counseled. "What does Evan think about that?" Darly grimaced.

"I've not really mentioned it," she confessed.

"And better you don't," Narcissa advised. "There are times when it's much better to ask forgiveness than permission," she shared. "Start talking about pregnancy and a man's eyes glaze over and you'd think his head was about to explode." Darly giggled.

"There's my nephew!" the girls heard called out across the foyer. Narcissa looked over as her sister crossed to her. "You watch," Bellatrix contended as she sidled up to Darly and reached down to hold the baby's hand. "We'll make him into the darkest and most powerful wizard since Lord Voldemort himself," Bella cooed at the tiny boy.

"Bellatrix," Lucius greeted her coolly as he approached the women in the foyer.

"Lucius," Bellatrix practically hissed back at him.

"Hello dear, you remember Darly, don't you?" Narcissa injected to try and ease the tension between her husband and older sister.

"Yes, of course," Lucius answered, nodding his head to her, "Miss Camden, how do you do?" He took her hand and kissed it. Spotting the ring on her finger, he corrected himself, "It's Mrs. Rosier now?" Darly nodded.

"It is," she affirmed. "Since June the twenty-eighth."

"Well congratulations to you Mrs. Rosier," Lucius offered her.

"And to you as well," Darly replied, regarding the baby she was still holding.

"Yes, Lucius," Bella injected, "you finally did something right for once."

"So I did, Bella," Lucius allowed. He couldn't care less about his sister-in-law's derogatory remarks as long as she agreed with him that his son was something he could be proud of. Bella had always been antagonistic, it was her nature to be so, but even the mad Bellatrix had to admit that Draco Malfoy was something very special indeed.

"Oh come now," Narcissa implored, "can't the two of you be civil to each other for five little minutes?" She frowned at her sister and then her husband. Narcissa knew full well that no amount of cajoling from her would entice the two of them into playing nice. The two of them had been friends long enough to have this adversarial routine down to a science. Narcissa was pleased enough that they had called a truce while she was ill, and she supposed that she had ought to take it as a sign that he recovery was near complete that the two of them had gone back to sniping at each other. "There are at least a half dozen people here who I am just aching to see," she turned to Darly and rolled her eyes. "Come on Darly," she implored, "Let's you and I take Draco to see the others inside and leave his father and godmother to duel it out on the terrazzo if they please."

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More later… Working on it right now- I love reviews more than Valentines chocolates!

-MQ


	5. Chapter 5

It had been the dullest party in the history of social gatherings and Narcissa could not have rightly cared. She'd had a splendid time. For her just seeing old friends for the first time since New Year's Eve was enough to make this a wonderful occasion for her. She had thoroughly enjoyed seeing all of the friends she'd been missing for so long, and the abundance of little children in the garden made for a most enjoyable occasion.

Leah Crabbe and Ellison Goyle's little boys had been born a mere nine days apart, last October and November, and the two of them were already beginning to walk and getting into nearly everything. The Nott's little boy, Theodore, was older than those two by more than a month, but smaller than Vincent Crabbe or Gregory Goyle and wanted nothing to do with either of them. He was much more interested in finding someone to practice his eight or ten word vocabulary on. Little Millicent Bulstrode was eight months old and crawling about making sure that none of those little boys could play unmolested. Ivy Parkinson seemed thoroughly disgusted that Narcissa and Draco had come to the party at all. Her two-week-old, Pansy, was plug ugly as far as Narcissa was concerned, and she was born at nine pounds. Draco, who had been a mere three and a quarter pounds at birth, was still smaller and much prettier than Pansy and it seemed to irk Ivy to no end that they'd come to spoil little Pansy's debut into society.

Draco was a prince, and everybody knew it. Narcissa could not have been prouder. The ladies had spent the last several hours sitting in the arbor on the south side of the house, taking in the sunset and watching the little ones interacting on a giant blanket on the ground at their feet. Draco, however, had yet to make it onto the blanket; every woman there seemed to have been waiting in line to hold him. They'd taken turns all afternoon, only relinquishing him at the request of the nursemaid, who always brought him back to the next person in line.

"You sure we're not monopolizing him?" Darly asked, as she took the tiny baby back from Imogene Macnair. Narcissa chuckled and shook her head.

"I see him plenty," she allowed. "I'm perfectly content to let you all hold him for as long as you'd like."

"I'm just so glad you've made it out this afternoon" Imogene commented, shaking Draco's silver rattle at him. "I really didn't think you were well enough to be out all day."

"Did my husband pay you to say that?" Narcissa joked.

"No," Imogene answered, "Do you think he might?" Imogene asked in return.

"Repeat that in his presence and see what he'll do," Narcissa answered. "On second thought," she countered, "please don't. I'd prefer not to hear 'I told you so' this evening." She turned to the young woman holding her son and changed the subject before anyone began to dwell too long on her health. She didn't like discussing the fact that she'd had a near-death experience, even with her nearest and dearest, and she hadn't come to this party to dwell on negative things. She'd much rather hear about all the things she would rather have been doing than lying in a coma for four weeks. "Darly," she said, "How did you find St. Tropez? I hear it's beautiful this time of year."

Darly smiled and blushed a bit. Narcissa could remember that feeling. She'd never been quite in control of that particular reflex when people had asked her about her own honeymoon. She'd known, of course, that all anyone wanted to hear was about how beautiful St. Petersburg had been and how she couldn't wait until the so-called iron curtain came down so that they could all go touring someday. But that hadn't stopped her brain from going immediately to other things entirely. Five years of marriage, two miscarriages, and the birth of a son later, Narcissa was still apt to get a bit red in the face at the mention of such things and she was a little bit embarrassed that she hadn't thought before asking about the Rosiers' trip.

"It was lovely," Darly answered after a tiny pause. "Have you been?" Narcissa shook her head.

"Oh no," she chuckled. "We took a family trip to St. Moritz once, I think I was nine. It took the whole winter of buttermilk and potions to get the unsightly freckles off my shoulders and I swore off the seashore once and for all after that." Narcissa regarded the parasol that she'd enchanted to keep the sun off of her shoulders even when her hands were full. "I must say I'm more of an indoor girl. I prefer room service and climate controlled air to anything Mother Nature might provide."

"Oh, you don't know what you're missing, Cissy," Imogene Macnair piped up. "The sunsets in Bali are spectacular."

"I believe I prefer our own English sunsets," Narcissa replied. "The sun setting over the amphitheatre at Castle Cary is better than anything I could imagine abroad."

"What a dear little patriot you are, Cissy," Bella cackled. "I'd prefer the sunset anywhere that the pure blooded had a foothold. But unfortunately the sun has yet to set on such a place."

"Bellatrix," a familiar voice admonished from someplace behind Narcissa, "must you bring up the dirty business of politics while there are ladies present?" Narcissa hadn't seen Lucius approaching, but his voice gave her enough notice of his presence that she wasn't at all startled when he placed his hands on her shoulders. Bella snickered at Lucius and rose from her seat.

"Pardon me, girls," she addressed to the circle of ladies, "but my view of our lovely British sunset has just become befouled." She turned on her heel and walked back toward the house. Darly's eyes grew wide and she chuckled,

"Pardon me for saying so," she asserted, "but if I had known that was all it would take to get Bella's sour puss out of my line of sight; I'd have called Lucius over hours ago." The ladies chuckled softly under their breath and Lucius allowed himself to laugh completely out loud.

"You're certainly pardoned, Mrs. Rosier," Lucius allowed. "If I had known that my dear sister-in-law was causing you ladies dismay I'd certainly have come of my own accord." Narcissa turned her head and smiled up at her husband.

"You couldn't have guessed?" she asked him, grinning. Narcissa shook her head and looked at the other ladies in the circle. "Bella has always been a little over the top and indelicate," she explained.

"We've known her long enough to know that," Ellison Goyle commented, reaching down to pull Gregory on to her lap. Ellison had been two years behind Bellatrix in Slytherin and the two of them had made fast friends in Bella's fourth year. Narcissa had to admit that she was happy that Elle was even willing to remain friendly with the Black sisters after Narcissa had married Lucius, to whom Ellison had been practically engaged by virtue of their parents' long-time friendship.

"Yes," Imogene Macnair chimed in, "We're all quite used to Bella by now," she consoled.

"Well," Narcissa commented, "Darly might not be," she corrected. Darly, who was rocking little Draco and petting his wispy blonde hair, shrugged.

"If I may say so," she injected, "She sounds just like Evan. I can take that. I've had two months of nothing but 'Dark Lord' this and 'pure blood' that and I can certainly take a little bit of Bellatrix. I just wish she'd soften her voice a bit around the little ones."

"Speaking of which," Lucius injected, "I must excuse my wife and son for a moment, as the nursemaid insists I bring them both inside." Narcissa rolled her eyes and sighed, but she knew better than to argue. Katy likely wanted the baby for a bottle or a nappy change and Lucius would not have come to get the both of them instead of just sending Katy if he hadn't felt some need to get Narcissa out of the evening air and into the house. She stood and fetched her parasol from where it was hovering above her head, closing it and hooking it over her forearm. She then bent down and took baby Draco from Darly's arms, placing him on her shoulder.

"Don't worry girls," Narcissa said to the disappointed faces of those who were next to get to hold him, "I'll bring him back." Darly and the others chuckled as Narcissa started toward the house. Lucius placed his hand on the small of her back and bent his head to her ear.

"I'm quite ready to take you home now," he growled. The tone of his voice and the way he stressed the word 'take' made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. He'd been at this all day.

Ever since she'd responded so saucily to his 'good enough to eat' comment, he'd been teasing her with similar remarks. All through the party he'd pretended to reach for something next to her, or to kiss her cheek, and had used the proximity of such actions to whisper something delicious and untoward in her ear. Narcissa had to admit that she was more than a little proud of herself for not having blushed visibly at any of his comments. She'd done well with teasing him back, managing to appear fully unaffected by his words and answering the naughtiness with nothing more than a 'come hither' glance or a word of agreement that seemed to all who may have witnessed it to be thoroughly innocuous. But now that the two of them were fully out of earshot of anyone else who might hear, Narcissa thought it high time that she flirt back with more gusto than she might have been able to in a crowded room.

"I don't feel like leaving at the moment," she cooed back, emphasis on the word 'feel'.

"I'll tell you how you feel once I've had a chance to feel for myself," he countered, dinging his fingers every so lightly into her back. Narcissa let out a guttural half-sigh and then inhaled sharply through her teeth.

"And you have no idea how good I'm feeling today," she whispered, brushing her hip against his thigh and then quickening her pace just enough that he had to work to catch up with her. He leaned his head to her ear just as they reached the doorway to the house.

"But I intend to spend every minute until sunup finding out," he told her. Lucius grinned mischievously at her as he stepped just far enough away from her that she would have to make quite an effort to speak to him candidly again.

"I shall look forward to that," she said aloud and pleasantly. Lucius shook his head. If someone had told him on their wedding day that five years later he and Narcissa would be trading lurid comments in the middle of a garden party he'd have laughed them out of the country. And yet here was his perfectly proper young wife, carrying their tiny infant up to the nursemaid, and driving him fully to distraction with insinuations of lewd behavior to happen upon their return home.

If this was what garden parties were going to be like from now on, he would have to bring her to more of them

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HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!! I love the Malfoys and I LOVE reviews… I have Lucius and Narcissa at my command at the moment, but you have the review button at your command. Please make my day happier and click it!!

-MQ


	6. Chapter 6

Some things were so ironic they were amusing. And other things were so ironic as to be damnable. It was the latter than bothered Lucius as he prepared to leave the Rosiers home for the night.

Most of the guests had already gone, and only family remained to sit on the rear veranda of the country house and watch as the moon rose over the moor. Narcissa had been maddeningly captivating with a plate of ice cream and a tiny spoon, divesting the silver of the creamy dessert with a fervor and a deliberation that made his trousers tighten. All of the ladies had been given plates of ice cream and glasses of mead while the gentlemen enjoyed cigars and brandy. Katy had long since returned home, leaving Narcissa in charge of a very sleepy Draco, who was currently in the arms of his godmother. Bella seemed to turn almost human when she was handed the baby, and the assembled group was more than happy to quiet her tirades in any way possible.

The bunch of them had spent the later part of the day making all manner of plans for this winter's holidays. The newlyweds Evan and Darly Rosier were more than thrilled to be offered the opportunity to host what had once been Evan's parents' signature party; the Samhain feast in October, and Narcissa had made it clear in no uncertain terms that the Malfoys' Ball on the Winter Solstice would go on as scheduled if she had to hire away all of London to help her put it on.

He knew she was toying with him; with talk of parties and socials all the while doing things to her ice cream spoon that tempted him to excuse the two of them to the nearest room with a locking door. He was hunting for some sort of an excuse to leave, and he could tell that she saw it on his face. Lucius had even entertained the notion of casting something harmless but annoying at Draco to awaken the tiny infant and allow him to insist that he take his family home. He did enjoy knowing that Narcissa was having a good time with her family and her friends, but he was not so much enjoying being kept frustrated and in public for so long.

He'd resolved to allow his wife to finish her plate of ice cream before he made any decisive moves toward leaving. She never ate enough in his opinion and it seemed as though ice cream had become a staple food in her diet. Lucius wasn't sure how much they'd managed to get her to eat that day, but he was content to watch her enjoying her dessert. And he was titillated by imagining himself the spoon. He became thoroughly annoyed, however, when he felt a tingling and then a burning in his left arm. He clenched his fists and shifted his eyes to the inky black Mark on his arm that was the source of the sensation. Narcissa caught his eyes just as he felt it begin to cause him discomfort and her eyes closed for a second before a full on frown crossed her face.

Narcissa noticed a sudden and uncomfortable silence in the room. One minute they had been discussing whether to serve a duck or a goose as the main course at the Lestrange's next dinner party and the next the group of them had clammed up entirely. "Is something the matter?" Darly asked the group of them, pausing with her ice cream spoon just inches from her lips. "I feel like everyone knows something that I've missed," she confessed.

"Evan," Narcissa looked at her cousin, "I believe your wife has asked you a question." Narcissa's cousin Evan Rosier was a full year older than she was but she had always had the upper hand in dealings with him. Cissy was much cleverer than Evan was, and she made no secret of her willingness to tell him exactly what to do if she felt it necessary. Evan frowned at her.

"Yes, Evan, I did," Darly confirmed. Evan grunted.

"Merlin's knickers, Rosier," Bella exclaimed, rising from her seat and handing the tiny bundle in her hands back to his mother. "Have you not told your little wifey here about…"

"Bellatrix," Lucius interrupted his sister-in-law. "What Mr. and Mrs. Rosier have and have not discussed is not for you to say," he chided. Bella had the biggest mouth in Britain and as far a Lucius was concerned; it was not her place to tell Darly Rosier that her husband was a Death Eater.

"What are you people not telling me?" Darly demanded.

"Simply that we have a pressing engagement, Mrs. Rosier," Lucius offered.

"Yes," Evan agreed. "A meeting," he clarified.

"A political meeting," Rabastan Lestrange added.

"A political meeting?" Darly sounded quite confused and Narcissa was almost entirely sure she wasn't buying it at all.

"That the lot of us had apparently forgotten," Evan told her. He shrugged his shoulders and stood from his seat. "Cissy," he looked at his cousin, "would you stay here with Darly until we're …finished… with our… meeting?" he implored. Narcissa pursed her lips at him and sighed, but nodded in the affirmative.

"I believe that I can do that for you, Evan," she agreed, looking to Lucius for approval. He was frowning, but nodded to her nonetheless. At least having to wait up with Darly would mean that somebody was there to look after her. If she were to go home she'd be likely to sit up worried and alone. No; better she remain with company than to be allowed to work herself into a state if he were to be gone too long. "I'm going to go and put Draco down upstairs where it's quiet," she told the rest of them. "I'll be back down shortly and then you can go." Narcissa rose from her seat and held the baby to her shoulder. "Lucius, can you carry that upstairs for me?" she asked her husband, pointing to the baby's basket on the ground at her feet. Lucius knew she could have just used her wand, but he could tell by her tone of voice that she knew that too and was using his needing to carry things upstairs as a ruse to get him to come with her.

Lucius nodded and picked Draco's little basket up from the ground. "I shall return in a moment, gentlemen," he said to the rest of them. "And then we will be ready to leave." The others nodded in agreement and Lucius took off in the direction that Narcissa had already begun walking. She scurried up the back stairs faster than Lucius really would have wanted her to, but she didn't seem the least bit out of breath when he caught up to her in the hallway. She ducked in to a small bedroom just opposite the stairs and turned to take the basket from out of her husband's hands, placing it onto the twin-sized bed. He took that moment to take the baby from her and hold the tiny boy to his chest for a moment. Narcissa arranged the blankets in the basket and turned again to take her son back from his father.

Lucius shook his head at her and walked the few steps to place his son in the basket himself, leaning over to assure Draco didn't rouse at being put down. Narcissa smiled warmly at the sight of this. No one would ever believe that tough, cold Lucius Malfoy was such a natural at caring for his baby son. "You're good at that," she told him. Lucius sighed and stood back to his full height.

"I have to go," he told her, moving closer to where she stood. Narcissa nodded at him.

"I know," she conceded with a half-whine, moving into an embrace that she was sure he was offering. "We were going to have such a good night," she told him, as though he had forgotten for even one moment what they'd whispered back and forth all afternoon or what she'd been doing with her tongue to that ice cream.

"Oh, I still intend to," he assured her, moving his hands to cup her face. "I'll be home soon enough."

"Not soon enough," she stressed, smiling up at him. "But I'm pleased that you're thinking the same thing that I am."

"In that dress," Lucius commented, his eyes shifting to her cleavage for a moment, "how could I think of anything else?"

"Wait 'til you see what I'm not wearing under this dress," she said boldly. Lucius gulped and narrowed his eyes. He bent his head to hers and kissed her briefly, but deeply.

"You are bad for a man's punctuality, my pet," he told her. "And I really must be going." Narcissa smiled at her husband.

"Of course, darling," she allowed. "Go. I shall be here when you return. And I shan't change my robes nor my under things in your absence. Be careful."

"I always am," he assured her, placing a kiss on her forehead and turning to leave the room. Narcissa bent down to check on Draco for a moment before she followed him out and pulled the door to. She scurried back down the stairs, wishing neither to hold up the gentlemen's departure nor to force Darly to sit by herself were they to have left already. At the foot of the stairs she nearly bodily ran in to her cousin Evan.

"Cissy," he whispered harshly to her, taking her by the shoulders. "Thank you for staying," he said. "And I think by now you might have guessed that…"

"How could you not have told her, Evan?" she interrupted him. "How in the name of Merlin could you possibly have married that girl and not told her of your…" She searched for the right words. "Your association with the Dark Lord?" she finally spit out. "And if you really expect me to baby-sit that dear girl while you all go out wreaking havoc across the whole of England without so much as a mention of the fact that her husband of scarcely more than a month is in mortal peril, then you sir have another thing coming to you entirely."

"Darly's young," Evan excused, "I've just not found a way to tell her," he shared. "Use your judgment, Cissy. If you think you ought to tell her, then tell her," Evan allowed. "But just make sure that you don't scare her too badly. You've always possessed a tact that I admit to lacking, and if you think it's best to tell Darly what you know then go ahead and tell her. I trust you." Narcissa nodded and bent down to kiss his cheek.

"Get gone then," she told him. "Go and do what you all must. And be careful." Evan nodded and dashed off to wherever it was that the men and Bella had gone. Narcissa shook her head and leaned against the nearest wall. She was about to give an eighteen year old bride some very upsetting news.

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Okay, so this is a 4 chapter day- a first for me in the HP fandom. I think it's the sugar free cinnamon dolce soy latte from Starbuck's that has made me thusly inspired; or perhaps it was the last minute reprieve from my commute (as in got a call that I didn't have to go to work while I was packing up to leave- and I'm salaried, so that's nothing but good news). I may have even been further inspired by the fact that I am watching "The Age of Innocence" on On Demand and Michelle Pfeiffer in this movie looks the VISION of Narcissa Malfoy- the hair, the clothes, everything. The film sounds a lot like the way I write, too. I'm just hoping that the plot will hurry up and take hold- this is the longest I've ever taken to get to the PLOT. But it's been delicious playing with them plot-free.

Happy 3's day to all and please please please leave me a review.

-MQ


	7. Chapter 7

"How in the hell?" Lucius asked his cousin as he fired off another curse at their adversaries. "How in the _hell_ did you manage to marry the girl," Lucius ducked around a corner just as a flying yellow hex flew past where his head had just been. "And take a five week honeymoon," Lucius flicked his wand around the corner and delighted in the sound of the wizard who'd been cursing them screaming in pain and falling to the ground. "And manage not to tell her about, bloody hell…!" Lucius threw himself across the corridor and flung a stinging hex in the direction of the blast of orange that had just missed him by inches. "This bloody business?" he finally managed to finish.

"She's bloody eighteen," Evan answered, drawing down on the Wizard Lucius had just knocked to the floor. "And I will say… _Avada Kedavra_! I had better things to do on my honeymoon than _talk_ to her." Evan wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his sleeve. It was bloody hot in here. Even Lucius, who did not perspire under duress as a rule, could feel beads of clammy sweat forming on his brow and on the back of his neck where his hair was tied.

"_Avada Kedavra_!" Lucius called at the Wizard he'd caused to fall over in the next room. He leaned against the nearest wall and waited for Evan to answer. He loosed his top button and wished ardently for a breeze to invade this filthy Muggle apartment. It was nights like this that Lucius was silently thankful for the recent cessation of the mandatory masks and hoods. The Death Eaters were likely as powerful a force now as ever there had been in the Wizarding World. Lord Voldemort had literally millions at his command; including the loyal Death Eaters, Giants, Dementors, and Witches and Wizards who had been coerced into cooperation or forced to submit via the Imperious curse. Their legions were much larger and more powerful than any that they met in battle and so it had become no longer necessary for them to go about in masks and hoods to disguise their identity. They were on the verge of winning this war, and they felt as though it was perfectly acceptable for them to fight in their civvies.

Not that any group of them had ever looked quite so out of place as the small cadre who had come to Lord Voldemort's sacred circle from the Rosiers' garden party. Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange, Barty Crouch Jr., Rabastan Lestrange, Evan Rosier, and Lucius had all Apparated to the Dark Lord's side still in their afternoon pastels, which had incited more than one double take from those in the circles who had not been to the Rosiers' that afternoon. It had taken Lucius a moment to realize why they were being looked at so oddly. But then it had occurred to him that khaki trousers and white linen shirts were not often seen in the sacred circles. They were dressed for day, and fancily so, and the Death Eaters were never called in the sunlit hours. Lucius figured that they all looked ludicrous.

He had divested himself of his cravat and waistcoat somewhere between arriving in the sacred circle and the appearance of Lord Voldemort with their orders. Lucius knew that he likely wouldn't be out too long tonight, but he still felt odd wearing cornflower blue silk accessories in the middle of the night. Their missions had changed in the past few months, and Lucius had a feeling he was in for close combat.

In the beginning, the Death Eaters would often be sent away for days and even weeks at a time to accomplish large-scale missions for the Dark Lord. But lately, the larger scale battles were fought by cursed minions and Giants whereas Lord Voldemort reserved his elite followers for more surgical and immediately important missions. Tonight they were to dispatch several groups of Muggle rights activists. Lucius had been partnered with Evan Rosier for the night and the two of them had all but finished with the five young men in this flat that they'd been sent after. There was only one of them left, and Lucius and Evan were doing their level best to find the bastard and get the hell out. "You're telling me you told Cissy on your wedding night?" Evan asked, starting down the narrow corridor into which they'd seen their final quarry flee.

"Didn't have to," Lucius answered. He pushed open the first door they came to and scanned the room for signs of life. Finding none, he filled the room with a killing mist (just in case) and shut the door behind him. "Narcissa already knew," Lucius confided. He'd gone to see his future bride the night he'd taken the Mark. They were not yet engaged, and yet something indescribable had drawn him to her that night. He was in a great deal of pain, as were all witches and wizards at the moment they were marked by the Dark Lord's magic, and he had wanted nothing more than to take what comfort he could in her presence. And she had obliged him; she'd run a cool cloth over his fevered skin and had seen to it that he was as comfortable as he could possibly be under the circumstances. He'd known by her reactions that night, and by the fact that he was able to fall asleep with her sitting by him (something he'd scarcely been able to accomplish with his own parents and never even with his dormitory mates at Hogwarts without a spell between them) that he absolutely _had to_ marry her.

Evan kicked open the next door on the hall and started a few fires inside with his wand. When there was no indication of anyone becoming distressed at the close proximity of flames, Evan shrugged. "Cissy knew?" Evan asked, pulling the door closed again.

"The day I took the Mark," Lucius answered. "Bella was already in, you know, so it wasn't so hard for her to figure it out."

"So she knew before you got married?" Evan sounded shocked.

"Before we got engaged," Lucius clarified. "And I understand that it's different with the provincial Miss Camden than with the youngest daughter of the Blacks of Coventry- as in: I'm sure that Darly does not have a sister among our ranks, but you cannot keep this from your wife, Evan."

"Why the hell not?" Evan asked his partner as the two of them took up positions on opposite sides of the door at the end of the hall. "It's worked well enough so far," he added. Lucius shrugged his shoulders and gestured for Evan to listen. Evan nodded slowly at Lucius, signaling back that he heard the shallow breaths of their intended target as well as his partner did. There was someone in there; someone who had made himself invisible. Lucius and Evan nodded to each other. Each of them trained his wand on an area of the walls. They conjured mirror after perfect mirror until the whole room was papered in nothing but reflective surfaces. The two of them fired off a simultaneous "_Avada Kedavra_!" at the mirrors and watched as the two streaks of brutal green light began to bounce to and fro across the room. One or both would hit the boy eventually; that was all that mattered. The two Death Eaters turned and made their way back down the hall, flicking their wands to start additional tiny fires behind them as they went.

"She'll think it's another woman," Lucius posited. "Or something equally foul," he added.

"Equally foul?" Evan asked, "Like mass murder?" he pointed at the bodies as they passed them on the way to the exit. Lucius chuckled.

"Your wife seems as sweet as mine, and even more naïve," Lucius told his cousin. "The murder of Muggle filth would never even cross her mind as a possibility. She'll either think you've taken a mistress- or a dozen mistresses, or she'll suspect a gambling problem, a bastard child, a weekly drinking bender…. There are a thousand things that she might suspect you of, mate. Better she know that you're a part of the noble mission to purify our world…" The two of them made it out of the flat and onto the stairwell. They looked both ways and nodded once to each other before Apparating away.

"…Than to let her imagination run wild with suspecting you of a half a dozen crimes that you've never so much as dreamt of committing," Lucius finished his thought when the both of them found themselves back at the site of the sacred circle.

"You may have a point," Evan conceded, pocketing his wand and looking around at the empty moor into which they'd Apparated. "But I may not have to tell her anything," he added.

"Oh?" Lucius asked, leaning on a large rock just behind where he'd landed. It was still hot out, and these kinds of missions always took it out of him a bit. These five young men had put up quite a resistance, and getting the first two taken care of was enough to leave him leathered. The second pair had fought valiantly and had taken longer to handle than Lucius would like to have admitted, and luckily the fifth had hidden under invisibility like a coward and he'd almost managed to catch his breath. "Why is it that?" he asked. Lucius was curious as to why exactly Evan thought he might be spared the need to confess.

"Cissy might have told her already," Evan said. Lucius sat up straighter and nodded his head.

"Well, if I'd trust anyone to break such news to a young lady with the appropriate delicacy as to not offend her sensibilities, it would be my wife," Lucius agreed. He ran his hands through his hair and looked around. "Speaking of which," Lucius commented. "I'm going to go home; will you send her and the baby in the carriage when you get back to your house?" Evan nodded. Lucius stood and bowed his head to his cousin and Apparated back to his own house.

-----0000----0000----0000----

"So what you're saying," Darly asked Narcissa from her perch on the piano bench, "is that Lord Voldemort rewards the most loyal of his devotees with a Mark on their person and a place in a sacred circle and that they are given tasks to carry out for the cause of pure blood and that my Evan is one of these people?" Narcissa nodded at the younger girl and popped a chocolate candy in her mouth from out of a nearby candy dish.

"That is the long and the short of it, yes," she confirmed. "So if you ever wonder where your husband goes off to in the middle of the night, you can be pretty well certain that he's been summoned by the Dark Lord."

"And Lucius is one of these…Dead…?"

"Death Eaters," Narcissa finished Darly's sentence for her. "They call themselves the Death Eaters, only heaven knows why, and the answer is yes. My Lucius is one of them, as is your Evan, and both of the Lestrange brothers, and Barty, and Bella, and most of the men who were here this afternoon. It's nothing to be too afraid of," she lied. Narcissa knew full well that Darly should be terrified of her new husband's involvement with Lord Voldemort. She had no idea exactly what went on when Lucius and his cronies were out and about, she hadn't even been allowed to read some of the stories in _The Daily Prophet_ after particular violence had been perpetrated. And she'd never forget the night that Severus Snape and Rodolphus Lestrange had brought a bleeding and barely conscious Lucius home from one of these nights of 'activity'.

Narcissa knew better than to scare Darly with such tales, though. She honestly liked the young girl, and she thought better of sharing any of the more frightening aspects of what it was like to be married to a Death Eater so early in the Rosiers' marriage. Besides, the war had turned to their advantage, and it was scarcely once a week that Lucius had been called away of late. He hadn't been out for more than a single night since last year, and they hadn't heard of the loss of anyone near or dear to them since the winter. Perhaps Darly really did have nothing to worry about. Narcissa half wished that she'd had the courage to start in on Darly earlier in the evening, but she was glad that she'd gotten it out in the open, anyway.

"And you really met Lord Voldemort?" Darly asked her older cousin. Narcissa grinned at her and smiled.

"I did," she confirmed. "On my wedding night, as a matter of fact," she clarified. "Things were different in those days," she shared. Narcissa chuckled, "listen to me," she joked, "talking like it was a million years ago." She shook her head. "But it really was different five years ago," she reiterated. "Their momentum was still building; it wasn't at all the way things are now. There were only thirteen or so of them when Lucius was first involved. They used to get sent off for days and days and sometimes weeks at a time. And because they were so few in numbers, the Dark Lord kept very close tabs on all of them. So, on the day of our wedding, when He sensed terribly powerful magic upon one of his own, he called Lucius in to account for it. Lucius explained that he'd gotten married and Lord Voldemort demanded I be brought to him."

"Wow," Darly exhaled. "What was that like?" she asked. "I mean, what was _He_ like?"

"It was incredible," Narcissa shared. "The Dark Lord is quite the presence to behold, I assure you. He and I came to an understanding, I think. One day we will have won this war and I will have a part to play alongside my husband, but until then He is content to know that He has my support from the rear. It would not surprise me if you are called to meet Him one day. He likes to know things. And I'm sure that He would find you as delightful as the rest of us do." Narcissa smiled over at Darly. "You do believe in the cause?" she asked the younger girl. It was a pointed question, and she knew it, but Narcissa needed to know, for all of their sakes, if this sweet new addition to their family could be trusted. If Darly was weak on the issue of pure-blooded supremacy, then she was going to have to be watched; and closely. Narcissa didn't think that her staunch Death Eater cousin would have married a girl who wasn't 'on message' so to speak, but the fact that he'd not spoken to her as to his activities on behalf of the Dark Lord did not bode well for his having discussed the matter at length with her at all.

"I support whatever my husband supports," Darly answered. Narcissa stood from her chair and crossed to sit next to the other girl on the piano bench.

"That's a perfect little society answer," she allowed, "but it's not what I asked you. Do you, Darly Camden Rosier, support the pure-blooded agenda? It's important for you to know where you stand on these things. It may become important someday." Darly didn't have the chance to answer before the women heard the clatter of footsteps on the tile of the solarium.

"Evan?" Darly called, standing from her seat. Narcissa's heart jumped into her throat as she watched her cousin Evan walk into the music room. Wasn't Lucius supposed to have been with him?

"Hello sugar," he called to his wife. Darly scurried to his side and took him by the hand. "Cissy," Evan addressed her, likely able to see the concern on her face. "Lucius said he would meet you at home. You're supposed to take the carriage, but I can send an elf with the baby, and you can just Apparate yourself home from the back gate. Narcissa let out the breath that she hadn't known she was holding and nodded.

"I think I can get myself and my son home," she told him. "You can send your elf in the morning with Draco's things."

"Sure," Evan agreed.

"I'll just go and fetch him," Narcissa told them. "Good night," she said to both of them.

"Good night," Darly called after her. "And thank you!"

"You're welcome!" Narcissa called back as she mounted the staircase. It was the truth. Narcissa had to admit to herself that it was much easier on her mind to have someone to pass the hours with while Lucius was away. Perhaps she would have Darly over the next time the men were called away.

That was a comforting thought to Narcissa: the idea that she might not have to spend any more nights alone with her baby while her husband and most of her living family was out waging war. However, the even more comforting thought on Narcissa's mind at the moment was the fact that her husband was not out waging his war any longer, but was instead waiting for her at home. She had a full day's worth of attention to lavish upon him momentarily.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

FIVE chapter day anyone? It's been more than one calendar day, but one continuous wakeful period, so it counts. I can attribute this chapter to the fact that I nearly choked to death on a bone in the fish of my Valentine's dinner. I had to stay awake to make sure that the esophageal swelling would not become life threatening. So I had to sit up and drink tea and liquid children's Advil to make the swelling go down and there was nothing more fun than writing to keep me occupied until I could breathe enough to go to sleep (which is now).

Reviews are better than ice cream and MUCH better than almost dying on Valentine's day (and my fiancé made the food, too- he feels really bad for almost killing me).

-MQ


	8. Chapter 8

Lucius lay in bed listening to the birds outside his window and watching his wife as she slept. She'd gotten home mere minutes after he had last night, and the both of them had been more than eager to live out the innuendoes they had lobbed back and forth through the day. Lucius wondered silently if he'd been too rough with her. As much as Narcissa was as strong and capable of spirit as anyone he'd ever met, Lucius had to remember that physically, she was rather fragile. Never in their most intimate encounters had he fully let his guard down with her, but last night had been the first in eight months. Lucius could recall moments when he was sure he had abandoned himself to passion and had neglected to remember that, in light of her recent health crisis, he really should have been even more careful than normal.

Narcissa had fallen asleep wit her head on his pillow directly following their lovemaking and she hadn't moved an inch since. Lucius could tell when she was waking and he smiled down at her as her eyes fluttered open. "Good morning, my love," she greeted him, scooting herself over to where her head lay on his chest instead of his pillow.

"Good morning, my dearest," he answered, wrapping his arm around her and planting a tiny kiss on the top of her head. He turned toward her and stroked her hair lightly. "How did you sleep?" he asked. Narcissa yawned daintily and grinned at her husband.

"Better than I remembered was possible," she answered. Lucius sighed. That was definitely something he was glad to hear. He cupped her face in with his hand and pressed his cheek to her forehead.

"How do you feel?" he asked. Narcissa leaned in to him just enough to kiss her husband on his jaw and then nuzzled her face against his neck.

"Hungry," she admitted. Lucius drew himself back just enough to look her in the eye.

"Really, Mrs. Malfoy?" he asked. He couldn't remember the last time she had been actively hungry. Narcissa nodded.

"Really," she answered, shifting under the covers to stretch her sleepy muscles. Lucius kicked the blankets off his legs and sat up, letting go of her as gently as possible and swinging his legs over the edge of the bed.

"I can fix that," he told her, turning to look in her eyes again. Narcissa pulled the sheets up under her arms and sat up, smiling at him. He stood and across the bedroom to the closet to fetch his dressing gown. Narcissa regarded his black silk pyjama pants and wondered silently when exactly he'd gotten out of bed to put them on. She watched as he threw his dressing gown over his shoulders and slipped out the bedroom door and in to the hallway. Narcissa wrapped the sheet tighter around herself and flopped back down onto the bed.

She lay there for less than five minutes before Lucius reappeared in their room with a tray of goodies. There was a basket of pastries, a plate of bacon, soft-boiled eggs and a pot of coffee. He placed the tray atop the little marble topped table next to the velvet fainting couch and crossed back to the bed. "Breakfast, Mrs. Malfoy," he announced cordially to her. She rolled over to her side of the bed, further cocooning herself in the sheet and propped her chin up on her elbow.

"That was quick," she congratulated him. Lucius sat on the edge of the bed and grinned at her.

"What the lady wants," he replied, "the lady shall get." Narcissa eyed him playfully.

"Anything I want?" she asked him, rolling on to her back and reaching for his hands. Lucius grinned at her as he lowered himself to place his face next to hers. Perhaps he hadn't been too rough with her at all….

"Anything at all," he whispered in her ear. He nibbled lightly along the side of her neck and her jaw line as he reached his arms around her waist. Lucius remembered himself suddenly and it occurred to him that he could have his way with her just as well after breakfast, and then Narcissa would have eaten something. He scooped her up off the bed and carried her, still wrapped in the sheet, over to the fainting couch, sitting himself down with her on his lap. She threw her arms around his neck and giggled as she wrapped the sheet tighter around herself. Lucius kissed the tip of her nose and plucked a sweet roll out of the nearby basket. Narcissa lunged forward and stole the pastry from his hand with her teeth; giggling as she licked her lips to remove the icing that clung to them after she'd removed the gooey roll from her mouth. She reached across Lucius to take a napkin from the breakfast tray but was kept from doing so by Lucius' strong arms holding to her tighter. "You missed a bit," he commented, kissing a spot of sticky icing from her chin.

"I'm aware of that," she told him, holding up the sweet roll so that he could finally have a bite. Lucius waggled his eyebrows at her and took the offered bite. Narcissa returned his earlier favor and kissed the sticky icing from his lips. She then surprised him by springing from his lap and walking the few feet to their walk-in closet.

"You wouldn't be thinking of getting dressed, now would you?" Lucius asked.

"I can't bring myself to eat breakfast with nothing but a sheet wrapped around me," she shared. "It's just not proper. And as much as I'm enjoying myself this morning; I'm hungry. And you got dressed first." Lucius shrugged his shoulders. He had gotten up in the middle of the night and put on pyjamas, and he was now in his dressing gown, having left their bedroom to summon the elves for breakfast. Perhaps he wouldn't mind her dressing for breakfast; it would only give him the joy of _un_dressing her again later. "Am I to take it from your leisurely attitude this morning that you have no place else to be in the immediate future?"

"I only wish that were true, my pet," he answered her, pouring each of them a cup of coffee from the silver pot on the tray. "I do have some business to attend to in London later this morning."

"Perhaps I shall accompany you to London," Narcissa suggested, poking her head out of the closet to regard him. She ran a brush through her hair and tied it back with a ribbon before coming to sit next to him again. Lucius handed her coffee to her and she sipped it with an approving grin. "I have some shopping I'd like to get done," she told him, "and we could have lunch together," she added. "If you're not already booked, that is," she corrected herself. "I do not mean to insert myself into your schedule if it's quite inconvenient." Lucius smiled at her. Crossing his legs and leaning into the curve of the couch, he took a sip from his coffee and considered her proposition. The idea of seeing her in the middle of the day pleased him, but he still wasn't sure he was entirely comfortable with the idea of Narcissa wandering the streets of London alone.

"I could easily invite you along for lunch," he offered, "I'm dining with my father and the Minister, and I am sure that both of them would be delighted to see you. But I cannot say that I am thrilled at the prospect of your going about CordiAlley with piles of packages and wearing yourself out."

"I had thought I might bring your son along," she told him, reaching across him to snag a plate with some bacon on it and an egg. "Draco's quite well enough to be out," she explained, cracking the top of her egg with the little spoon attached to the side of the egg cup. "And Faireen would surely enjoy the outing. I can bring Ooble along to carry the packages, and I promise to look smashing to greet Minister Bagnold."

"Well," Lucius nodded, setting his coffee back on the tray and wiping his mouth with a linen napkin. "I see that you have anticipated all of my best arguments and prepared a thoughtful reply, to which I can offer no rebuttal." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh, do you really mean it?" Narcissa asked. She had not at all been expecting Lucius to agree to let her go to London. He'd scarcely wanted to allow her to sit still at a garden party yesterday and she had no real reason to believe that he would allow her to go on an outing alone; especially not one that would involve walking around London and the excitement that came with accumulating wonderful new things. "Oh it's been so long since I've bought anything," she commented. "I hope I remember how," she joked. Lucius laughed out loud.

"My pet," he said to her, patting her knee wit his near hand. "I have every confidence that you'll have no real difficulties."

"I appreciate your believing in me, love," she said. "I'm so excited," she observed, "I had no idea I'd be quite this thrilled about getting to go out and shop." She shrugged her shoulders and sipped her coffee. "Of course, I wasn't so much counting on your saying it was okay." Lucius uncrossed his legs and sat forward on the chair, turning to look her in the eyes.

"I worry about you," he told her. "But if we are ever to get our lives back to normal, I shall have to relax a little and let you make the decisions as to whether or not you feel well enough to go to a party or spend a morning shopping in CordiAlley. I trust you, pet," he added. "And as much as I think sometimes that I would like to; I know that I cannot keep you locked up in the house and surrounded by Healers every moment for the rest of your life." Narcissa leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss on his lips.

"I'm glad you've seen clear to reason," she told him. She stood from her seat and put her now empty breakfast dish back on the tray before taking her cup of coffee with her into the closet. "And speaking of getting our lives back to normal," she added.

"Yes, love?" he answered, standing as well and following her into the closet. "I'm not sure I'm ready to be alone at night while you're out on the Dark Lord's errands," she explained, pulling ivory-colored stockings on one at a time. "It was nice to sit with Darly last night while you and Evan were gone," she added. Lucius nodded his head as he dropped his dressing gown and then his breeches to the floor. Narcissa's breath caught in her throat at the sight of his naked backside. She tried to maintain her composure by fastening her garter belt around her hips, but the hooks would not cooperate. She looked back up at Lucius, who had managed to get pants and an undershirt on during the brief pause in conversation. "Do you think it would be alright," she began again, pulling on her knickers and allowing her own dressing gown to fall to the floor. "If I were to have her over regularly?" she asked. Narcissa slipped her camisole over her head as Lucius pulled on his trousers.

"I don't see why not," Lucius answered her, crossing to take a white broadcloth shirt from a nearby hanger. He slipped his arms into the shirt and started in on the buttons. "I think I prefer you to have company," he considered. Lucius finished his buttons and started in on the ones on his cuffs. "It would likely ease my mind considerably to know that you and the baby have others around should something happen in my absence." Narcissa smiled at Lucius as she pulled her robes off of a hanger opposite those where his shirts were kept.

"Perhaps I'll have some of the other wives over as well," she suggested, threading her arms into the cap sleeves of the peridot-colored taffeta. She pulled the dress closed at the waist and dashed into the bedroom, leaving a very confused Lucius peering at her through the door. She returned presently from the closet cum dressing room and stood before the mirror. Lucius nodded when he realized that she'd simply gone to fetch her wand from wherever it had wound up last night. She pointed the narrow shaft of wood at each of the buttons on the dress, beginning at the hem and working her way up to the neckline until the entire dress was fastened. "I'm sure I'm not the only one who hates the waiting up," she added, regarding herself in the mirror.

"You may invite whomever you please," he allowed. "And you look beautiful, dearest," he added, scooting himself in front of the mirror. Narcissa chuckled a little bit under her breath; she had always found it amusing that Lucius was just as concerned with his appearance as she was with hers. He fussed over his cravat in the mirror as Narcissa went and plucked his matching waistcoat from where he had draped it over the dresser. She brought the garment over to him and waited until he had finished with his cravat to help him on with it. "Thank you, love," he said to her, checking his reflection again.

"You're welcome," she told him, slipping on her flat green shoes and walking back out of the closet. Narcissa crossed to her vanity and sat down, beginning to pull the pins from her coif. She hadn't gone to bed with pins still in her hair in quite some time, and as much as she enjoyed the memory of just why she hadn't had the time to brush out her hair last night she was not thrilled at the tangles she was finding that they had left there.

Lucius walked up behind her and began to run his fingers through her hair. Narcissa closed her eyes and sighed, content to let him keep doing that forever if he wanted to. "We'll never get to leave at this rate," she told him as his fingers worked the knots out of her locks. Lucius bent down and kissed the top of her head.

"I'm going to take a look at the paper," he told her, stepping back and letting his hands leave her hair. "Meet me in the study when you're ready," he instructed. "And don't dally," he half-joked. Lucius knew that his wife was never really one to 'dally' per se, but she was prone enough to obsessing over her appearance for longer than was really prudent.

"I will be right down, darling," she assured him. Narcissa smiled at Lucius as he turned from her and left the room. She was so excited to be going shopping there was no way that she would be late.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

For those of you who asked: basically there's a chance that a person's airway could swell shut after there's been some foreign object lodged in it. Pretty gross- and it's still hard to eat and breathe at the same time. Today has been the day of the sugar free soy cinnamon dolce latte from Starbuck's (thank Merlin I live in Seattle- there's a Starbuck's on every corner). Reviews are better than children's Advil!

-MQ


	9. Chapter 9

"Did you have a nice nap, love?" Narcissa started a bit at the unexpected sound of her husband's voice as she sleepily wandered into their private living room.

"I didn't know you were home," she told him, crossing toward the back of the sofa he was sitting on.

"You were sleeping," Lucius turned his head to face her as he answered. Narcissa smiled when she got closer. Lucius had Draco lying lengthwise on his lap, with one hand behind the tiny boy's head and the other holding the bottle from which the baby was enthusiastically suckling.

"You could have woken me," she assured him as she seated herself to his right. She rubbed a finger against her little son's cheek before settling herself against the back of the chair and adjusting the skirt of her gray cashmere house dress beneath her.

"Wouldn't dream of it," he countered, "how long were you asleep?" Narcissa shrugged and picked up her book off of the table next to her seat. She thumbed through the pages to find her place and considered.

"What time is it?" she asked after a pause.

"Ten past four," Lucius told her. Narcissa frowned at that. She hadn't meant to fall asleep at all, much less be out for three hours.

"Oh my," she answered. "I suppose I slept for a couple of hours." Lucius could tell that his wife seemed somehow displeased at the thought of how long she'd napped.

"You know sleeping is not a weakness, Narcissa," he assured her. "No one will think less of you for having had a nap, especially me."

"It's not that," she countered. "It's just that I hate the idea that I can't have a morning out without spending the afternoon incapacitated." Lucius smiled over at her.

"Pet," he said, "I have no doubts as to your ability to one day go out for a morning of shopping and spend the same evening dancing at a ball with no intervening rest periods. However, you mustn't push yourself too much just yet." Draco had finished the contents of his bottle and was beginning to fret as he continued to try and get it to produce milk. Lucius took the bottle out of his son's mouth and set it on the floor at his feet, lifting the baby to his shoulder and beginning to pat him on his back. "This was two days in a row of activity when you'd had months of none at all," he reminded her. "I'm sure you'll be back to yourself in no time. Even my father mentioned how well he thought you looked." Narcissa chuckled a bit and grinned at him.

"Your father amuses me," she told him. "I think he's scared of Draco." Lucius smiled as he continued to pat the tiny boy's back.

"That's quite possible," Lucius conceded, pulling the infant off of his shoulder and cradling him in the crook of his arm.

"I don't see how," Narcissa commented, looking down at her child, whose eyelids were already drooping as though he were about to fall asleep. "All he ever does is sleep," she finished. "What's so frightening about that?"

"Have you gotten a good look at him, Narcissa?" Lucius asked her, rocking the baby slowly from side to side. "He's tiny. You should have seen how petrified I was when I held him the first time."

"I wish I could have," she told him, smiling as best as she could. Narcissa hated that she'd been too ill to be present in the first two months of Draco's life. She'd been unconscious for the entire first month after he was born, and spent another three and a half weeks in hospital recovering. Draco had been born at thirty two weeks, and had been quite ill at first, although he was all but perfectly healthy by the time his mother had come home and gotten to meet him.

"Oh, pet," Lucius sighed. It occurred to him that he'd accidentally said something that had upset her. "I didn't mean it like that," he assured her. Lucius knew that his wife felt guilty over her illness having caused her to be incapacitated while her tiny son had fought for his life. Lucius had managed better than he ever imagined he could have under such circumstances; he'd hired away the three kindest and most pleasant nurses in the St. Mungo's neonatal unit and been allowed to bring Draco home two weeks before his scheduled due date.

"I know you didn't, darling," she answered, reaching over to touch Draco's cheek again. "But I really do wish I had been there to see the first time my husband met his son." She looked at him with a warm smile.

"You'd have laughed at me," he assured her, trying to break her pensive malaise and add some much needed levity to the conversation.

"I doubt that," she replied.

"I don't," he answered back. "It was the day they moved you to St. Mungo's," he told her. It occurred to him suddenly that he hadn't ever told her the whole story of those few horrible weeks. "Are you quite okay to hear this, love?" he asked. Narcissa nodded.

"Actually, I think I'd like to hear it," she told him. "I'd wanted to ask you several times, but you never seemed to want to talk about it. I think I'm healthy enough now for you to be okay with telling me?" Lucius could tell she wanted to know. And she was right that he hadn't wanted to talk about how he'd almost lost them both when she was still at risk of not making it through to health.

"Yes," he answered. "You are quite well enough now to allow me to tell the story without undue distress."

"Please, then," she implored, "It was the day they brought me to hospital…"

"Yes. There were complications during the delivery; I'm sure they told me at some point but I do not remember the specifics. But you had lost a lot of blood, which you knew. And then your low blood volume had caused a heart attack, which you also knew. The Healer who'd been brought in when the midwives panicked told me that you were comatose and not stable enough to move. Two days later, you'd improved enough that they were willing to bring a coach to take you to London." He scooted a little closer to her on the sofa as he continued. "And they wouldn't let me go with you," he told her.

"Really?" she asked. Narcissa was astonished.

"Really," he answered her. "Apparently they were sick of looking at me. I never left, Narcissa," he said to her. "It took them an hour or more to let me see you after everything happened, but once they let me in, they couldn't make me leave." Narcissa smiled and reached out to him. She brushed her knuckles against the side of his face, much as she had just done with Draco. "But when they moved you, they locked me out again," he explained. "It took them for bloody ever to get everything settled after they'd moved you. I got to St. Mungo's before they even arrived with you and I had all of the paperwork complete by the time you were brought in. I don't know how long I was pacing outside of that room before Evelyn found me there."

"I should have known," Narcissa commented, "Evelyn would have known to come and check on us."

"She did," Lucius affirmed. "And when she heard my grumblings of how perturbed I was that it had been more than an hour since I'd been allowed to see you, she managed to figure out the only thing that would save the blasted imbeciles who were keeping you from me from a string of curses. She asked if I had gone to see the baby."

"And you hadn't?" she asked, for clarification.

"I hadn't," he admitted. "It hadn't even occurred to me. I know this sounds strange, but I hadn't even thought about it. All that mattered to me was that you weren't well. It was like I'd almost forgotten that there was another person involved." He looked down at the sleeping Draco in his arms and then back at Narcissa. "When I said that to Evelyn, she insisted that I come with her. She took me up to the nursery and she put me in a chair and handed me the baby and a bottle and just walked away." Narcissa laughed softly at the mental image.

"I could only imagine the panic you must have felt," she commiserated.

"Quite right," he confirmed. "I did panic. You know he only weighed three and a quarter pounds. That's half the size he is now. He was the smallest living thing I had ever seen. I thought I would break him if I held him wrong. And all she'd said was 'support his head' and 'give him his bottle'. I had no idea what she meant. I had to figure it out for myself." He looked at his son again and smiled. "But we came through it okay, didn't we, Draco?" he asked the baby.

"You did," Narcissa answered for her son. "When did you name him?" she asked. Narcissa could see on her husband's face that it was difficult for him to remember those weeks, but still she thought that she deserved to know how all of these events had unfolded.

"That same day," Lucius answered. "You know, they still weren't sure he was going to make it either. We'd buried two that we'd never seen and never had the chance to name. And when I looked down at this tiny little _person_ with your nose and your chin, and when I saw my eyes look back up at me, I knew that he had to have a name. Even if he only lived another hour, he was my son and he deserved a name." Lucius shifted the baby back to his shoulder. "We hadn't decided on anything; we thought we had two more months to consider. But 'Draco' had been mentioned, as had naming him after one of our fathers or grandfathers. I'd begun to think about it when they asked me if I would fill in the birth certificate and just when they returned with it, he made the strangest noise. I haven't heard him make that noise since we brought him home. But he made this odd noise and Faireen was right behind me, and she said 'that one has the heart of a dragon' or some like. And his name was Draco; from that moment on that was his name. I couldn't decide on a middle name, so I went with both of our fathers names."

"It's perfect," Narcissa told him. "He does have the heart of a dragon…and the tenacity of a Black, and the charm of a Malfoy. Dare I say that he'll be the most formidable wizard the world has seen since Lord Voldemort?" Lucius stood and walked with the baby over to his nearby bassinette, leaning over to place the tiny boy inside of it.

"You may certainly say so, Mrs. Malfoy," Lucius told her, turning to look back at her where she sat. "The Dark Lord himself has said similar."

"The Dark Lord?" Narcissa asked. Lucius nodded. He hadn't meant to keep things from her, but it was beginning to occur to him that there was a great deal she hadn't been told.

"Yes," he answered, crossing back to the sofa. "He came to call when I brought Draco home. He wanted to give His regards. Bellatrix had told him that the baby was back here; He didn't dare appear at St. Mungo's."

"No, of course not," she agreed, shaking her head as he sat back down beside her. Lucius scooted away from her on the couch and then spun sideways, laying his head onto her lap and putting his feet up on the end of the sofa.

"Lord Voldemort wouldn't pick him up either," Lucius shared. Narcissa wasn't sure what she thought of that. On the one hand she didn't figure she would have enjoyed the thought of the Dark Lord handling her premature infant, but at the same time she wasn't exactly sure it was comforting that people found her baby frightening when she found him so ideal. Perhaps it was just a man thing that she'd never understand.

"You obviously learned quickly," she observed, beginning to stroke his hair with both of her hands. "You had him spoiled rotten before I ever met him," she teased.

"And why shouldn't I spoil him?" Lucius half-joked back at her. "He's my perfect little son. He's the only one I'll ever have, so I shall spoil him at my leisure." Narcissa nodded, her face falling into a very sad smile. Damn. Lucius knew in an instant that he'd hit a sore spot with her. He could see her eyes beginning to glisten as she struggled to keep an even keel, nodding her head in agreement with him. "I'm sorry, pet," he said, sitting up to look her in the eye. "I didn't mean to say it like that," he assured her. He felt like a heel. How could he have been so stupid as to mention the fact that they'd never have another child? He knew better; he really did, and he had just put his foot squarely in his mouth with that remark.

"It's alright, love," Narcissa managed to say. She could never appropriately explain to him how guilty she felt over her inability to carry another child and live through it. She'd tried to explain how ashamed of herself she was when she'd miscarried the second time; but he was hearing none of it. And after she'd been told that under no circumstances was she to get pregnant again, she had offered to let Lucius have his own life without her- to make a life with someone who would be able to bear him more sons, but he'd hear none of that, either. Narcissa did not enjoy being reminded of her inadequacies; particularly the ones that caused Lucius pain as well. But she knew that Lucius had not at all meant to upset her with his comment, and as much as the words had hurt her, she could easily forgive him.

"I have everything I could ever want, my pet," he assured her, taking her by the shoulders and gathering her into an embrace. He held her to him, stroking her back slowly with one hand and petting her hair with the other. "I adore you," he told her, "and I adore our precious little Draco. I could not dream myself happier." Narcissa sighed. How was it that he always knew just what to say to make her feel better? Narcissa wrapped her arms around her husband.

"Me neither," she answered. "Unless, of course, the tea gets here in the next ninety seconds," she jocularly corrected. Lucius leaned back just enough to smile at her. He was very pleased. She'd woken up hungry this morning, and had eaten a good amount at breakfast as well as an admirable portion at lunch in London. The fact that she had an appetite again was something akin to a thrill for him. It was the one quantifiable thing he could take comfort in as proof of her recovery.

"Tea will arrive presently, my pet," he assured her with a quick glance at the clock on the mantle behind him. It was twenty five past, and tea was promptly brought to the living room at four-thirty unless there had been instructions to the staff otherwise, which there had not been today.

"Good," she affirmed, looking pleased at the news. "Because I'm starving," she added. Lucius loved that. She was hungry and that was the one thing he could think of that could have made him happier that afternoon than he already was. She'd been alert and energetic in the morning, and then had displayed the good sense to take care of herself by having a nap in the afternoon and now she wanted more to eat. Lucius was having a very good day. "And I've decided we're throwing a dinner next week," she added. "I wouldn't dare discuss a menu with you on an empty stomach." Lucius rolled his eyes and pulled her to him again. His day suddenly got a little less wonderful.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Feeling better! And I had a lot of work to get done today, as some of you who read the one shot I wrote while I was having to use my other machine knows. But here is a chapter and there will be more in less than 24 hours if I have any real control over it. Remember to review!!!

-MQ


	10. Chapter 10

"How many people are coming to this blasted event?" Lucius asked his wife as he adjusted the collar on his dress robes for the umpteenth time in the mirror over the fireplace.

"I don't know, Lucius," she answered from her nearby dressing table. "It's not like I've been keeping count." How in the name of Merlin could the woman have spent more than a week planning a dinner party and not know who was coming?

"Have you any idea who will be in my home tonight, Mrs. Malfoy?" he asked, leering at her sideways.

"Well," she answered, slipping pin after pin into the ever complicated hairstyle she was building. "Bella and Roddy will be here," she began. "Stan, and Barty, the Rosiers, the Bulstrode's, the Crabbes, the Goyles, the Macnairs, the Parkinsons…"

"You hate Ivy Parkinson," he reminded her.

"Of course I hate Ivy Parkinson," Narcissa confirmed. "Everybody hates Ivy Parkinson; she's horrible. But have you any idea at all how this works?" she asked.

"How what works, pet?" he asked, giving up on his collar and taking a seat in a nearby chair.

"If we invite anybody, we have to invite everybody," she explained.

"I can't say I follow your logic," he admitted. Narcissa shook her head and spun on her stool to face him, obviously more concerned as to his education than her hairstyle. "Alright," she addressed him. "Now imagine that we want to have just the Crabbes and the Goyles over for dinner,"

"Alright," he agreed.

"Now," she began again, folding her hands in her lap and looking him in the eye. "We can't invite the Goyles without inviting the Macnairs; because Imogene is my dearest friend in this world and has been since school, and she's Ellison Goyle's sister so she'd be bound to hear of the invitation and feel slighted. And, if we've invited Elle and Imogene, then we'd need to invite the Bulstrodes since Edgar is their brother and he'd feel slighted if his sisters were invited and not him. Add to that the fact that Imogene married a Macnair which means we'd have to invite the Parkinsons because Matthew is Ivy's brother and they talk all the time. Are you beginning to understand?"

"What you're saying my pet, if I have heard you correctly, is that; due to the inter-related nature of pure-blooded wizardry, there is no chance that we can ever have a small, quiet dinner party." Narcissa giggled and stood from her stool, taking her gloves from the vanity and sliding one and then the other over her slender fingers and up over her elbows.

"Yes," she answered cheerfully although with a matter-of-fact tone in her voice that told him she was in no way joking. "Never," she confirmed. "We can't even have my sister over without Roddy and if we invite Roddy, then we have to invite Stan. With Stan will inevitably come Barty, and with Barty here we'd have to invite Evan and Darly, since Evan is a closer cousin than Barty is and they live just over the hill."

"Mrs. Malfoy," he said to her, standing and crossing to her side. "I can only answer that by telling you that I am exceedingly pleased that I married a witch of exceptional breeding and refinement who understands the subtleties of social interaction necessary to maintain our position in such a demanding climate." He crossed to her and reached into his inner coat pocket. He examined her scarlet dress robes and thought her at that moment to be the image of desire.

She didn't often wear red. Lucius wondered silently what had prompted her choice in robes for the night. He wouldn't say that he _disapproved_ of her clothes per se, but she did seem to be a bit more flashy this evening than he was used to. He was intrigued by the bright red ruffles of her skirts and the plunging neckline of the silk bodice, and he wasn't sure what was putting him off about the color. Perhaps it was that he found it alluring in a way that other colors just weren't. It was an almost garish kind of sexy, and on other women he would likely have loathed the shade. But on his elegant and statuesque wife it was just enough to make the corners of his mouth twinge. She added a dimension of grace to anything she touched and even this loud color worked on her. And he did have to admit to himself that the rubies in her ears and around her neck might have had something to do with the near indecency of her outfit in his mind.

He had bought the jewelry for her on their first wedding anniversary, along with a silk negligee that matched their color perfectly. He enjoyed watching elegant Narcissa go about society in her shining jewels and knowing, as no one else did, that she was thinking of something much more sinister than whatever the other ladies were steering the conversation to. She had in the past only worn the deep red stones with black robes, using the red in the stones as a guide for the color of a sash or a corsage; she'd never worn so much red all at once before and Lucius had to fight the conflicting impulses of wanting to rip the entire ensemble off of her right this minute and thinking to enjoy this view of her for the rest of the night. Either way, he had another accessory to add to the maddeningly saucy ensemble.

Lucius' gloved hand came out of his pocket and presented Narcissa with the item he'd reached inside it to retrieve. Her eyes lit up when she caught sight of the diamond bracelet. "Lucius!" she exclaimed, reaching for the shining strand. He shook his head and withdrew the bracelet to where it was just out of her reach.

"Give me your arm," he instructed. Narcissa grinned widely and obliged him. She reached her right arm toward him and watched eagerly as he hooked the bracelet around her wrist. It was a clunky yet elegant piece; three strands of enormous diamonds set in platinum and it looked almost clunky on her thin wrist.

"It's exquisite!" she told him, her eyes wide as she looked closely at her new jewels. "But whatever is it for?" she asked. Lucius feigned disappointment and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I need a reason to present my wife with jewelry, Mrs. Malfoy?" he asked her in jest. "Surely you don't mean that."

"Of course I meant nothing at all by it," she assured him. "You most certainly may buy me jewelry any time the inclination strikes you." She smiled at him and checked her reflection again, her eyes dwelling for a moment on the way the diamonds sparkled against her gloves.

"But since you asked, there was a reason," he told her. Lucius moved up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his chin on the top of her head. "This is the first occasion you've hosted as the mother of my son," he observed. "And I thought that enough of an occasion to present you with jewels to commemorate it. Plus, I saw you eyeing this in the shop window last week."

"You are nothing if not observant, my darling," she told him, turning to look him in the eye. "Shall we?" she asked, stepping back from him and gesturing toward the door. "The guests should be arriving any minute."

----0000----0000----0000----0000----

"Cissy," Darly whispered as the two women made their way up the manor's grand staircase. "I don't think the other wives like me very much." Narcissa turned and took the younger girl by the arm. She had been sure that this was likely to be a topic of discussion when Darly had asked to accompany her upstairs to check on Draco. The men had long since retired to the formal living room for brandy and cigars and Narcissa had begun to find the company of the other ladies perfectly tiresome. Looking in on her baby was as good an excuse as any she could think of to excuse herself from them, and poor Darly seemed even more desperate to escape than she was.

"Darly," Narcissa said back to her cousin. "If you don't mind my saying so; of course they don't." Narcissa heard Darly gasp. That had not been the response she was hoping for, Narcissa was sure. She squeezed Darly's elbow and smiled at her. "They're all so jealous of you they could scream," Narcissa clarified.

"Jealous?" Darly asked. "Of me? Why ever would they be jealous?" Narcissa shook her head and chuckled as the women rounded the corner at the landing.

"Don't go being humble with me, Darly Rosier," Narcissa insisted. "You know full well why their jealous of you; the old pea hens."

"No," Darly challenged. "Really I don't."

"Oh you silly little goose," Narcissa teased as the two of them reached the stairs to take them up to the private level of the residence. "Do you really have no idea?"

"None at all," Darly answered, shrugging her shoulders. The two women reached the top of the small staircase and Narcissa turned a sharp right, signaling Darly to follow her.

"Darly," Narcissa addressed her, pushing open the door to the nursery and stepping inside. "You're twice as pretty as the rest of us put together and the youngest one among us to boot."

"Oh Cissy," Darly protested. "You're at least as pretty as I am. I think you're much prettier than me," she added. Narcissa crossed to Draco's cradle and reached inside of it to pat his soft hair.

"Thank you, Darly," she offered, reaching into the cradle to pick up her waking infant. "But I'm really not. I'm just better at it," she added, "I've had more practice." Narcissa placed Draco on her shoulder and began rocking him from side to side. "But we were all in school together for the most part, and being the youngest of the group in Slytherin made me the butt of their jokes, not the object of their jealousy. However, dear, you are a full decade younger than Ellison Goyle is and her sister-in-law, Isabelle, is two years older than that. You're eighteen and gorgeous and they're horribly insecure." Narcissa walked closer to her cousin so that the younger girl could see the baby better. "And, of course, some of them are just unpleasant to begin with," she added, turning Draco in her arms so that Darly could see his face.

"I believe I know who you're talking about," Darly asserted, leaning down to smile at the baby. His blue eyes were wide open and he seemed to be studying her face very intently. "It seems like all of them are jealous of this little one, too," Darly added. Narcissa smiled brightly.

"And rightly so," she answered. "He's perfect."

"He really is," Darly affirmed. "And I think he's grown since last week."

"I think he's grown since this morning," Narcissa asserted.

"Evening Mrs. Malfoy," the two of them heard called from the door. "Mrs. Rosier," the greeting continued.

"Oh, hello Meg," Narcissa greeted the nursemaid as she entered the room with a baby bottle in one hand and a basket of clean nappies in the other. "Is it that time already?" Narcissa addressed her tiny boy.

"It is that," Meg answered for the baby. "I'm not so sure you've noticed, but your little one gets quite angry very quickly if we're late with his bottle." Narcissa laughed softly and handed the baby over to his nurse.

"We'll just blame his father for that," she suggested, grinning.

"Brilliant idea," Darly agreed.

"Indeed it is," Meg affirmed. "And mostly true," she added. "You'd not think it to meet him, but Lord Malfoy is quite smitten with this wee one. He's got a bottle for the boy in his pocket half the time, I think." Meg seated herself in the antique wooden rocking chair on the far side of the room from the door. She situated Draco in the crook of her arm and put the nipple of the bottle into his tiny mouth.

"I heard that, Meg," Lucius' voice came from just outside the door. "Don't you know that it's bad form to speak ill of your employer?"

"She wasn't speaking ill, dear," Narcissa defended. "She was stating a fact." Narcissa moved toward her husband and grinned at him.

"Hmm," Lucius growled, quirking his eyebrow at her. "May I see you in the hallway, Mrs. Malfoy?" he asked. Narcissa's eyes widened and she nodded slowly. Surely he hadn't been angered by that? Lucius took her by the elbow and led her a few steps into the hall pulling the door to the nursery most of the way closed as they went.

"Is everything alright?" she asked him. Lucius stopped and turned to face her. He shook his head, his jaw set in a stern expression that caused Narcissa to brace herself for something unpleasant.

"I'm afraid, my pet, that our party must come to a rather abrupt end," he told her.

"No, Lucius…" Narcissa shook her head and slumped her shoulders.

"I'm afraid so," he answered. She leaned forward until her head rested against his chest.

"Why is it that the Dark Lord always insists on interrupting social occasions?" she asked, her voice almost a whine.

"It could be worse," he consoled, rubbing both of her arms. "He could be always calling me away from quiet evenings at home." Narcissa looked up and smiled at her husband.

"You've a point, dear," she agreed. "I suppose everyone's leaving?" she asked. Lucius nodded.

"Yes," he confirmed. "Most of the gentlemen have departed for the gatehouse already. I wanted you to have the opportunity to invite any of the ladies to stay if you'd like."

"Yes," she answered him. "I would like it if Darly and Imogene could stay. It is so much easier to have you gone when I've got friends around. I'll go and ask them."

"Alright, pet," he agreed, leaning down to kiss her forehead. He then leaned away from her and examined their surroundings for a moment. Satisfied that they were alone and not about to be intruded upon, he bent his head and kissed her properly. Narcissa felt her breath coming in gasps as their lips parted.

"Hurry back," she encouraged him, a knowing and mischievous smile crossing her features.

"As soon as I can," he assured his wife as he took the first step away from her.

"Be careful," she added, as he turned to go back down the stairs.

"I always am," he affirmed. Narcissa sighed as she watched him start down the stairs and pass from sight.

"Ooble!" she called into the air. With a 'crack' a strangely plain-looking house-elf appeared before her. "Ooble," she addressed the elf. "Please make my excuses to the other ladies and bring Mrs. Macnair up to the private sitting room," she instructed.

"Yes, missus," the house-elf answered. She disappeared with another 'crack'.

"Darly!" Narcissa called through the door to the nursery. "Come with me, dear," she instructed as Darly appeared at the door. "The gentlemen have been called away, I'm afraid," she explained. "I fear we may be in for a long night."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

I think that I must write weak 9th chapters. I have more than one fic with lots of reviews that have none for the 9th chapter. That's a statistical anomaly which I find a bit amusing. I have yet to examine my chapters 10, but I hope that this one merits a few comments.

Next up: Evan Rosier meet some long-lost cousins in battle, and the Order of the Phoenix shows itself a worthy opposition to the Death Eaters!

-MQ


	11. Chapter 11

Damn! How many of them were there? The group of nine Death Eaters had not expected such resistance. Lucius fired off a "_Sectumsempra!_" loudly and with anger in his tone before ducking behind a pillar for cover. The building they were in was a Ministry building, but not one any of the Death Eaters was at all familiar with.

They had been dispatched to a plain, Muggle-looking building in Birmingham that served as a liaison office for the Ministry's Oblivators and the Muggle authorities. The building itself was thoroughly mundane and flatly ugly as far as Lucius was concerned. It also was supposed to have been near empty.

The two mid-level bureaucrats assigned to the night shift were the intended target of the attack. After the Muggle-lovers had been dealt with, the Death Eaters were to examine the files held within the building and exterminate any Muggles the papers referred to. But things were not going as well as they had expected.

Someone had gotten wind of their plans; or guessed them more likely, and sent in the proverbial cavalry. These fools called themselves 'The Order of the Phoenix', or so they had announced when one of the Dark Lord's ranks had exclaimed a rhetorical 'who in the hell' upon being greeted by such resistance. These were not just ordinary wizards; this was a trained faction.

Lucius was sure that they had to be Dumbledore's men. No other wizard would dare mount a force to challenge the forces of the Dark Lord. The Death Eaters were hugely outnumbered, and Lucius could see that this was clearly a problem. "_Avada Kedavra!_" he shouted, poking only his wand out form behind the pillar at the Order member he was sure had to be the source of the shadow he could just make out around the corner to his right. The curse missed its intended victim, as evidenced by the unwavering shadow in Lucius' periphery.

"_Stupefy!_ Gryffindor baggage!" Evan Rosier bellowed as he flicked his wand at the advancing figure of a man that Lucius recognized as his wife's disowned cousin, Sirius Black. There were a few others that Lucius recognized as well: there was an Auror named Moody, a woman named Meadowes who'd been his same year but a Hufflepuff, and two red-headed young men who Lucius was able to place as having been in Gryffindor sometime during his years of schooling. There must have been thirty of them all told, and Lucius was more than a little bit sure that there was no way the Death Eaters were going to get their mission accomplished without sizeable reinforcements.

Lucius looked to his side and made eye contact with Evan. The two men nodded to each other and looked around briefly for the rest of their contingent. Lucius could feel his guts tighten at the thought of reporting this retreat to the Dark Lord, but he knew that they had no choice if they were to get out alive. Lucius suddenly cursed the fact they were not in masks and hoods. He knew that there had been enough familiar faces in the room to point fingers at every Death Eater present, but he also knew that the Order members had been just as recognizable as the Death Eaters had been and that Lord Voldemort and His followers held no compunctions against tracking down each of these damnable Muggle-loving fools and kill them in their beds.

That was going to have to be the strategy. There was no way that the nine of them could take on thirty or more enemies this strong and live to fight another day. Certainly the Dark Lord would be furious at the decision to retreat, but He would be much more displeased were they to take casualties any heavier than the ones they'd already sustained. Rabastan Lestrange was unconscious, having hit his head on an I-beam when on the receiving end of a blasting curse from the wand of one Alastor Moody. And Algernon Yaxley's leg was likely broken; his fall down the stairs having been what announced the presence of their enemies to begin with.

"OUT!!!" Lucius hollered as loudly as he could, to be sure that his comrades heard him. He held his breath as he felt the familiar suffocation of Apparition and found himself and the others on the deserted moor where the Death Eaters were brought to muster. He looked around at his colleagues; all nine of them had made it out. Yaxley was practically writhing in pain and Rodolphus had his brother by the arm, having brought him out of the building side-along. Bellatrix was spouting swear words at the top of her lungs and Edgar Bulstrode and Matthew Macnair looked about ready to draw down on Lucius for having ordered them out.

"The fuck was that about?" Bellatrix hollered. "We were handling it, Lucius," she insisted. "Why in the hell did you call us off, you sorry son of a bitch? When I tell the Dark Lord of your treachery, he will punish you for such cowardice!"

"Bella," Lucius admonished, leering at her in a way that made her mouth shut, even as she continued to scowl at him. "He will be pleased that you followed orders," Lucius told her, "as I was in charge of this mission," he reminded. "And as for cowardice; it is sometimes wiser to assure that you will live to fight another day. We had two men down, and were outnumbered more than three to one before we took casualties."

"Who the fuck were those people anyway?" Yaxley called out, his face still showing a pained grimace.

"Bunch of bloody Gryffindors, that's who," Evan answered him.

"Dumbledore's people to say the least," Barty chimed in. He had taken up a place next to Stan and was patting his face in an attempt to wake him up.

"Yes," Lucius answered wryly. "Quite so it seems," he affirmed. "And I fear that any number of us might have been recognized. I can only hope that between us we are able to puzzle out the identities of our adversaries; as we will need to dispense with each of them presently."

"I'll tell you who they bloody were," Bellatrix answered, still obviously angered to a fever pitch. "My good for nothing traitor of a cousin, Sirius Black, his filthy little Muggle-loving buddies the Prewetts, the Auror Moody…"

"I saw the bloody Longbottoms," Barty added.

"And that damned McKinnon girl who'd never give me the blasted time of day," Roddy injected. Bella slugged him in the stomach for the mere mention of another woman and turned to Lucius with more names.

"Benjy Fenwick," she added, "Caradoc Dearborn, Sirius' little friends: James and what's-his-name…"

"Remus bloody Lupin," Travers added, "and Dorcas Meadowes, and Lily Evans, Elphias Doge…:

"Lily Evans married James Potter last year," Severus Snape's voice called out to them.

"Severus!" Lucius greeted his friend. He stood to shake the darker man's hand and embraced his friend briefly. "You have come to us at great risk to yourself, my friend," Lucius said to him, "If Dumbledore were to learn of your whereabouts…"

"Dumbledore is a trusting old fool," the dark haired man answered. "And at this hour," he added, "I shan't be missed." Severus nodded once to Lucius and moved to where Rabastan lay on the ground. He shooed Barty off of the unconscious man and took out his wand, passing it over Stan's still body until he began to stir and finally sat up. Severus then moved to Yaxley as he began to speak again. "I see that you all have met with the members of the intrepid Order of the Phoenix," Severus observed.

"Quite so, I'm afraid," Lucius answered.

"And this arse hole didn't let us stand and fight!" Bellatrix asserted.

"Do you mean to tell me, Lucius," Snape asked his friend as he passed his wand over Yaxley's injured leg, "that Bellatrix followed your order to retreat?"

"Oh shut up you greasy…"

"Bella!" The bunch of them started at the sound of Lord Voldemort's voice. "It is good that you followed orders," the Dark Lord assured her as he slithered toward her. He placed his hand on her head and stroked her sable locks. "For if you had chosen otherwise," he added, fisting his hand in her hair and causing her to gasp with the pain of it, "I would have been very disappointed," he finished, letting go of her. "And as for you, Lucius," he began again, his voice ending in a sibilant sound that caused the hairs on Lucius' arms to stand on end. "I presume that you are prepared to take on this order of the foulest?"

"I am, my Lord," Lucius answered, bowing his head in deference. He only hoped that Lord Voldemort couldn't tell that he was half lying. He was indeed ready for the challenge of murdering every last one of those nasty fools; and would do so tonight if he really had a say in the matter. But he was not sure that the Death Eaters had quite enough intelligence just yet as to how to properly go about it at the present.

"Excellent," Lord Voldemort answered. If he knew that Lucius was uncertain, he did not let on. He smiled at his followers and addressed the group of them. "You will have orders," he informed them. "Ready yourselves." And as quickly as he had shown himself, he had Disapparated and was suddenly gone from sight. Bellatrix, still clearly orgasmic from the Dark Lord's hand upon her, yelled out into the night.

"We will murder them all!" she bellowed. Severus Snape turned to her and shook his head.

"Your enthusiasm is impressive, Bellatrix," he said to her, "but your strategy seems somewhat lacking. Have you ever wondered why you are never put in charge of a mission?" Bella sneered down at Severus, but his comment seemed to have shut her up for the time being.

"What do you know of this 'Order of the Phoenix', Severus?" Lucius asked his friend. Snape nodded his head slowly and crossed back to Lucius.

"That leg will be sore, Yaxley," he told the man he'd just left, "but it will function well enough." Severus turned back to Lucius. "What you may not know is that you…er… we have been battling with the Order of the Phoenix for years, only we did not know it. They are Dumbledore's men, as you have probably puzzled out by now."

"Yes," Lucius answered wryly, frowning to his comrades.

"I have names," Snape shared with them. "I have addresses," he added. "I will see to it that you are prepared for what you'll meet at any given place. They are careful, but not careful enough," he declared. "I am where I am for a reason," Snape reminded the group, but his eyes were trained on Bellatrix.

"But you will help us, old friend?" Lucius asked. Severus nodded.

"I will," he answered. "Until it reaches a point that I may compromise my position as a spy for the Dark Lord, I will do what I can. However…" Snape turned and looked Lucius in the eye. "You will have to work quickly, Lucius," he told his friend. Lucius nodded; as though he needed to be reminded of that. He had a young wife and a tiny infant at home and no desire whatsoever to be fingered as Death Eater by any of these minions of Dumbledore's. The best he could hope for under those conditions was a mound of paperwork; the worst: a one-way ticket to Azkaban. Lucius, who rather enjoyed his life, had no desire at all to go through any of that.

"I believe we are all prepared to do what we must, Severus," he told the other man.

"Good," Snape affirmed. "I will share what I know with the Dark Lord," he told them. "You will have your orders shortly. Of that I am certain."

"Thank you, old friend," Lucius said to Severus, holding out his hand again.

"All part of the service," Snape answered with a half-smile. He shook Lucius' hand and patted him on the shoulder. "Might I inquire as to the health of your family, Lucius?" he asked softly. Lucius nodded and grinned. Severus Snape was one of his oldest and dearest friends and, by virtue of his recent orders to 'turn coat' on the Dark Lord and his followers in order to gather information vital to the cause, hr had been sequestered at Hogwarts for months and had very little contact with any of his old comrades; even those whose public, daylight faces were as respectable as they ever were. Lucius smiled at his friend.

"They are well," he assured Snape. "If you find a moment, I must insist on your stopping by. I'm sure Narcissa would be pleased to see you. And you really had ought to see my son, Severus," he added with pride, "He's twice the size he was when you last saw him. We'll make a Malfoy of him yet." Snape grinned and nodded his head.

"Of that I have no doubt," the darker man answered. "But for now I must take my leave of you all I'm afraid," he added. "If I were to be discovered missing…" he added.

"We understand, Severus," Lucius told him. "Your help here tonight had been invaluable."

"Good evening gentlemen; Bella," he addressed the group of them before Apparating away.

"I may forgive you your cowardice, Lucius," Bellatrix spat, "but only because I plan to fully enjoy the torture and murder of all of Dumbledore's little fools."

"How lovely for you, Bella," Lucius drawled. He addressed the group of them. "It appears as though the Dark Lord's orders will be forthcoming," he told them. "In the mean time, I suggest that we all go the hell home and get some rest. I suspect that we have a very busy couple of weeks ahead of us."

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Now do we see where the plot is going? I don't think it's ever taken me so long to get to the bloody PLOT before, but the characters were having so much fun that it wasn't that bad… was it? More soon… as the murderous rampages begin shortly. You know…they only ever found pieces of Benjy Fenwick.

-MQ


	12. Chapter 12

Lucius sighed as he shifted beneath the tangled sheets in his massive mahogany bed. He was finally letting himself relax; his night had taken a considerable turn for the better. He had been through more than he bargained for trying to get here.

Lucius never Apparated past the gatehouse when guests were over. There was a point on the balcony of the small library at the north west corner of the house to and from whence it was possible to Apparate, but its existence was a closely guarded secret and Lucius preferred not to even hint at its existence to outsiders. Lucius preferred to Apparate to the edge of the wards at the gatehouse when anyone other than Narcissa and the servants might be in the house.

Narcissa was likely to know that he'd be in no mood for entertaining after where he had been. The quarter mile walk to the house would give her plenty of time to get her guests packed up and on their way home to their own husbands before he reached the door. He preferred that all the attention he would have to give them would be a few words in passing. And tonight the trip had taken even longer than usual.

He'd been met at the gates of the manor by Lord Voldemort himself. The Dark Lord certainly had been angry at Lucius' decision to retreat, Bellatrix had been quite correct in her assumption. He questioned his lieutenant; there were twenty, fifty, ninety questions; most of which Lucius had no ready answer for, and many of the rest for which his answer was found somehow wanting by his master.

And so Lord Voldemort had thought to torture him. Just a little bit, just a taste of pain as _Crucio_ was only one of a string of words that came streaming from the Dark Lord's lips; mostly sounding like 'disloyalty' and 'dishonor'. Lucius had heard the Dark Lord say something about 'disgrace' and 'wife', and then the pain stopped. Just as suddenly as it had begun it was over. Lucius silently wondered if the Dark Lord's mention of Narcissa had anything to do with Him letting up on the torture so quickly.

The Dark Lord had a soft spot for his wife, Lucius was sure of it. He even dared say, although never in the presence of Lord Voldemort Himself, that the Dark Lord would be likely to spare his wife were Lucius to fail Him somehow. Lord Voldemort had been known to murder those who had disappointed Him and half of their family alongside them. The death of the traitor Regulus Black along with his father and uncle had been proof enough of that; had anyone truly needed it. But Lucius knew somehow that his wife held a special place in the Dark Lord's heart; she had since the day of their first meeting. No one was sure why that was, but it was apparent to many.

Lucius looked to his right at where Narcissa lay. She was facing away from him, propped up on her elbow at the edge of the bed, her bare back visible where the sheet had fallen away. Lucius could only guess that she was trying to discover what had become of the comforter. She shook her head and flopped back down onto her back, her head landing squarely in the center of her pillow. "Have you any recollection as to where I left my wand?" she asked, still looking straight up at the ceiling.

"No," he answered. Narcissa sighed. How did Muggles handle such things?

"Do you remember what you did with yours?" she asked in response.

"No," he admitted. He knew it was in their bedroom somewhere, but just where it was exactly was a mystery to him at the moment. Narcissa shook her head and rolled over to look at him.

"A sickle for your thoughts," she posited, scooting a little closer to him. Lucius smiled mischievously at her.

"How much to act them out?" he asked. Narcissa's eyes got wide and she caught herself giggling slightly.

"Have you not done that already?" she asked him. She was certainly under the impression that he had acted on every carnal impulse he was fully capable of in the past few hours since he'd been home. He rolled over and pulled her closer to him.

"I'm not thinking about anything, pet," he told her. "My mind is blissfully empty at the moment." Lucius sighed heavily and buried his face in her hair.

"As long as you're blissful, my darling," she sang, "then I am content." Narcissa reached her hand up to brush a stray lock out of her husband's face. He took her hand in his and kissed her palm before allowing her to continue stroking his hair. She could not remember the last time they'd been so happy.

Suddenly, they were both startled by a loud 'crack' announcing Dobby the house-elf's arrival in the room. "Excuse me master," the elf's whiny-sounding voice implored. "Please don't punish Dobby," he begged. "Dobby knows he is not to disturb master and missus when they've retired for the night. But Miss Bellatrix is here," he told them. "She insists on seeing master or she says she'll be disturbing you herself. Dobby did not know what to do, sir. Dobby had to tell you. Miss Bellatrix is in the upstairs sitting room." Lucius sat up and glowered at the house-elf. He could not decide whether or not he should punish Dobby for the intrusion. There was something less threatening about having his bedroom invaded by his servant than by his menacing sister-in-law.

Bellatrix, maddeningly enough, had been told about the library balcony as an Apparition point when Narcissa had miscarried the first time. It had happened while Lucius was away on the Dark Lord's business, and she had written her big sister to come and stay with her for a few days, and had let Bella in on the secret. He hadn't disapproved at the time, as it was a sort of comfort for him to know that his wife's sister could get to her in the event of any emergency that might keep him away. Bellatrix, though, had managed to use her knowledge of the entry to make an utter nuisance of herself at times; and if she was willing to Apparate to the house unannounced and in the middle of the night, then he certainly would not put it past her to barge into the bedroom. Better to be bothered by Dobby than by Bellatrix.

"My wand, Dobby," Lucius demanded. Dobby snapped his fingers and Lucius saw his wand appear in the elf's tiny hand. He snatched it away and frowned at the pitiful creature. "Tell Miss Bellatrix that I will be with her presently," Lucius watched as Dobby went away with a 'crack' and looked back at a very exasperated-looking Narcissa. "I'll be right back," he assured her, bending to kiss her forehead as he summoned his dressing gown from the closet.

Lucius rose and stalked across the bedroom, sliding his slippers onto his feet and donning his dressing gown as he went. He passed through the master bathroom and into the sitting room on the other side. Bellatrix was facing the fireplace when he came in, and she quickly turned the ninety degrees to face him. "Evening Lucius," she greeted him with a cackle. Lucius hated it when Bella got that tone in her voice; that was the tone that meant she was up to something.

"What is it, Bella?" Lucius asked her curtly.

"Awww, Lucius," she feigned disappointment. "Is that any way to greet your sister-in-law?"

"What the hell do you want, Bellatrix?" he asked again.

"What makes you think I want anything?" she toyed with him.

"I think," Lucius responded, his voice growing harsher as his patience grew thinner, "that you want something, and that you want it pretty badly, and that it must be terribly important if you felt it necessary to come here in the middle of the night and interrupt my sleep to tell me about it."

"Right," Bella taunted. "Sleep. That's what you were doing when I got here." She sneered and shook her head.

"I warn you to mind your tongue," he cautioned.

"The hell, Lucius?" Bella retorted. "Do you think I don't know you're shagging my baby sister? She had your baby, Lucius. The secret is out."

"Bella," he growled, "you are trying my patience."

"And you are trying to decide whether or not to hex me," she added. She was right, of course. If any other person had made such a remark about Narcissa, they'd be cold by now. But this was Bellatrix; the only person as likely as he was to defend Narcissa's honor had someone else made that remark. "Well, you should decide against it," Bella informed him. "As I'm here to make you an offer."

"What sort of an offer is it, Bellatrix?" Lucius asked. He had to know. Even though he had very little interest in anything that his insane sister-in-law might have to offer him at two in the morning, still his interest was piqued just enough to hear her out.

"A cold and dead one," she answered. "We know where two of them are," she shared.

"Two…" Lucius wasn't entirely sure what she was talking about. "Of Dumbledore's people?" he asked. Bella nodded.

"By virtue of their being my aunt Lucretia's husband's nephews," Bella clarified. "The sodding Prewetts must think themselves too strong or too brave to bloody hide," she sneered. "But it was Gideon that knocked Stan on his sorry arse. Roddy's about to spit nails, Barty is seeing eight shades of red, I'm surely too wired to sleep until I've inflicted pain on somebody, Stan is up and about and feeling the need to disembowel the sorry git who hexed him from behind, and we want you to come along." Lucius rolled his eyes at her.

"And you are planning this assault for tonight?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest and rolling his eyes at her.

"In an hour," she answered. "You coming or not?" she asked him.

"Most likely, not," he answered. Bella clicked her tongue against her teeth.

"Tsk tsk, Lucius," she replied. "Do you not wish to avenge your deeds in the eyes of the Dark Lord?"

"I wish to await my orders, Bella. I do not fly off half-cocked to murder those who have yet to be marked for death."

"I am disappointed at your lack of creativity, Lucius," Bella commented, moving as though she were about to leave. "In an hour, Lucius," she added. "Our house in London," she continued as she placed her hand on the doorknob. "In case you change your mind." She slithered out the door, pulling it closed again behind her.

Lucius shook his head. He would not be changing his mind. Lucius sighed as he went the short trip back in to his bedroom. Narcissa was laying diagonally across their bed, her face buried in his pillow, and the sheet barely tossed over her. She'd gotten up while he was gone. Her previously bare back was now covered in a blue and ivory flowered chemise with spaghetti straps. Thinking his wife had fallen asleep, Lucius ducked into the closet and slipped his own pyjama pants on underneath his dressing gown.

As he stepped back out from the closet, he caught sight of the comforter where it had fallen to the floor. He swished and flicked his wand at the heavy down blanket until it levitated itself back to its rightful place on the bed. When the blanket fell onto her, Narcissa spun around to face him and smiled. Lucius flicked his wand through the air in a silent _Accio_ charm and waited a moment until Narcissa's wand had flown in to his hand. Lucius crossed to the bed and slipped his wife's wand beneath her pillow, which was its usual overnight spot, and sat on the bed next to her.

Narcissa reached her hand out to her husband, which he took just as she asked, "What the devil was that about?" Lucius shook his head. He wasn't about to tell her the whole truth. She would not likely sleep well were he to confess that her sister was plotting murder and had come to him for his expert assistance.

Lucius was fairly certain that Narcissa had a pretty good idea as to what went on when the Death Eaters were out. She had more than once managed to see something in a newspaper or hear a report on the wireless that had clued her in to a few things he would rather she never have known. And Narcissa was no fool; she was clever enough to know that he would not keep the papers from her to begin with if the news was not liable to be horribly upsetting. One thing he could always seem to count on from her was her comforting serenity no matter how much he shared. She'd learned to ask vague questions that warranted only vague answers as to his time and his whereabouts.

"Bellatrix has some work in mind for this evening," he replied to her. "For which she came to request my assistance."

"Something dangerous?" Narcissa asked, sitting up to look him in the eye. Lucius nodded.

"Quite likely," he answered.

"So you're going with her?" Narcissa presumed.

"Do you think I should?" he asked in reply. There had been something in her voice that made him think that perhaps he should consider the trip.

"Please go along, Lucius," Narcissa asked him. "I know it's a lot to ask," she added, "I know it's late, and I know that whatever it is it's likely ludicrous. But she's the only sister I have. And she's never been one to think things through properly. I'd feel better if I knew that someone with a capable head on his shoulders was along to be the brains of the operation." Lucius grinned and flung his arms around her waist, tackling her onto the mattress.

"You should learn to be more selfish, my pet," he teased, nibbling lightly at her neck.

"I am being selfish," she countered, sliding her hands in to his hair. "I want my sister and my husband to be alive and well and around to watch my son grow up." Lucius propped himself up on his elbows.

"You'll try to sleep while I'm gone?" he bargained. She nodded.

"I'll take the sleeping draught if you really want," she agreed. Lucius considered this for a moment. He really had kept her up much too late tonight, and he knew that she would insist on being awake and visible in time to receive any of the half a dozen unexpected guests who were likely to drop in during breakfast.

"No," he allowed. "Just try to rest," he encouraged with a kiss on her forehead. "And when you're sleepy tomorrow, we'll have a nap."

"You say 'we' as though you're planning on sleeping yourself," she countered.

"Perhaps I could be persuaded to lie down with you tomorrow afternoon," he flirted with her.

"Then I agree," she told him. "I'll try and get some sleep as soon as I've gone to look in on Draco." Lucius nodded and sat up, allowing her to sit as well. He certainly wasn't going to insist that she not check on the baby before sleeping.

"Alright, love," he allowed. "You go and check on our son, and I'll be back as quickly as possible."

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Okay, five Death Eaters, two Prewett brothers… this is about to get messy. Please let me know what you thought and I'll be back with more after we've gone out and ordered the wine for our wedding. 

-MQ


	13. Chapter 13

"Bugger the Prewetts, Bellatrix!" was the first sound that met Lucius' ears as he let himself in to the Lestranges' London townhouse. Lucius divested himself of his cape and his hat as he listened in to the goings on in the rear parlor. "The Dark Lord knew you'd be up to something, that's why!" he heard the same voice bellow. He couldn't be sure, but he thought he recognized the voice as belonging to Antonin Dolohov.

Dolohov had been a Death Eater for at least a decade before Lucius had been drawn into the ranks and he was considered a senior man within the sacred circle. He had been away for some time; on a mission of some significance that the Dark Lord had not felt the need to share with the rest of them. If Dolohov was here, Lucius had no idea why, but it obviously meant something.

He made his way down the hall and slid open the door to the parlor. It was Dolohov who had been speaking. He was standing nose to nose with Bellatrix, obviously having quite a quarrel with her. Both of their wands were drawn and Lucius silently wondered how much of either of them might have been left had he not chosen that moment to make his entrance. Dolohov spotted Lucius as he came in and nodded to acknowledge his entry. "Do not let me interrupt you, Antonin," Lucius called. "Please, finish what you started." Bellatrix spun on her heel and sneered at Lucius as he made his way farther in to the room.

"Well, well," she cackled. "If it isn't my dear brother-in-law…. I see you've come to join our little raiding party."

"If I overheard Antonin correctly," Lucius answered her coolly, "it appears as though there's not going to be any raiding party."

"Oh fuck off, Lucius," Bella spat. "Dolohov here just came to try and order me around."

"Mm, I'm sure," Lucius brushed her off. He crossed the room to where Rodolphus was sitting calmly with Rabastan and Barty, each with a glass of brandy. Lucius seated himself in the one empty chair and took a glass of the liquor that Roddy graciously offered him. "So I take it that the Dark Lord has other plans for us tonight old man?" Lucius asked Dolohov, sipping from his glass of brandy.

"Quite so, Lucius," Dolohov answered. He turned to scowl at Bellatrix again. "He knew that this little hellcat would not be able to sit still for long. And when I returned to him tonight from my errand in the East, he sent me here to see to it that she did not do anything rash."

"Too late, Antonin," Stan called into the room, "Everything Bellatrix does is rash."

"Stan," Barty whispered into his ear rather harshly. "I told you to be quiet." Barty then looked over at Bella, who the group all seemed to be waiting for some retort from. "Remember, Bella," he said to her. "He has a head injury."

"Yeah, well," Bellatrix sneered. "If he continues to speak to me in such a manner he will have much worse."

"Bella, come here," Rodolphus commanded her. Lucius waited for Bella to turn her wand on her husband next. He'd never seen the two of them be less than respectful to each other, but Bella was in quite a frenzy at the moment and Roddy had just given her what sounded to Lucius' ears like an order. He could only imagine what response he would have gotten from his own wife had he spoken to her in such a way under similar conditions; and Narcissa was by far the better behaved of the two sisters.

But Bellatrix surprised all of them by crossing calmly to sit on the arm of her husband's chair. The silence was palpable for the moment as the assembled Death Eaters wondered if Rodolphus had silently placed his wife under the Imperious curse. But had Bella been bewitched, she would likely not look as glum and annoyed as she did at the moment.

"If the Prewetts are where you think they are, Bellatrix," Dolohov posed, "then they will still be there when it is time for us to deal with them. But first there are others to be dispensed with. We do this on the Dark Lord's timeline, not yours."

"The Dark Lord will be pleased that I murdered his enemies," Bella spat, never moving from her seat. "He will reward me for my service to him."

"Or torture you for your presumptuousness and your impudence," Lucius offered flatly.

"So we kill the Prewetts tomorrow," A new arrival allowed as he came into the room and pulled the door closed behind him. Davis Travers was a spry young man, with light blonde hair and green eyes that would never have betrayed to the casual observer his penchant for dark magic. He was a third cousin to Darly Camden, who'd married Evan Rosier earlier in the summer and by virtue of that familial relation to the Blacks had been given the information as to how to reach and to enter the Lestrange's townhouse. "Who're we going to kill tonight?" Dolohov turned to greet their new arrival with a nod.

"Evening, Travers," Roddy called to him.

"I mean it," Travers told the others as he leaned casually against the wall next to him. "Who're we going to kill tonight?"

"McKinnon!" a voice called out as though from the air of the night itself. The temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees and the fire in the grate flickered as though it were threatening to go out. The Dark Lord appeared suddenly in the center of the room.

"My Lord!" Bellatrix called, sliding from her seat on the arm of the chair and falling to her knees to greet him.

"My faithful Bella," Lord Voldemort hissed at her, as he crossed the few feet to pat her head. He pointed his wand at her and cast what the others could only guess was a silent Cruciatus on Bellatrix even as he continued to pet her. Bella remained on her knees and Lucius could tell that the torture had ceased when Bella turned her eyes upward to face her master. If Lucius had to guess: she enjoyed this treatment; enjoyed any attention paid her by the Dark Lord, even when it was in the form of a Cruciatus.

"You will do things the way I tell you to do them, won't you Bellatrix?" Lord Voldemort whispered to her. Bellatrix nodded. "I do appreciate the enthusiasm with which you pursue our enemies, Bella," he added. "But things must happen just so. We do not wish to expose ourselves to the wrath of powerful witches and those who might choose a path that would cause us further distress. We will begin with those whose lives we must eliminate and add to that the other members of Dumbledore's order as they get in our way. I see that you have the passion for the work, Bellatrix; all of you. But are you ready to murder your old schoolmates in their beds?" he asked. Lucius shuddered. He had signed on to a revolution, not a crime spree.

Lucius had no aversion to killing in battle. Nor had he any hesitation to rid his world of any Muggle or mudblood who dared cross his path without giving due respect. And he supposed that these Order of the Phoenix wizards were no different than the Lithuanian faction they'd wiped out several years earlier. Except that they _were _different. The Order of the Phoenix was made up of British wizards. Lord Voldemort had been right, it would likely feel different to place wand to temple and feel a glimmer of recognition. Lucius wondered how it would be to murder a cousin, an uncle, an old school friend. He knew that he would do as he was ordered to, and thought plainly that anyone he failed to kill due to past association would easily fling a killing curse at him or see him spend the rest of his days in Azkaban were they to know he had been a Death Eater for the past six years.

"Why the McKinnon girl?" Rabastan asked. The assembled Death Eaters let out a unison and audible gasp. One did not ask the Dark Lord 'why' and live to tell the tale. Barty clapped a hand over his friend's mouth and stared at Lord Voldemort wide-eyed.

"I beg you to forgive him, my Lord," Barty bowed his head and addressed Lord Voldemort. "A blow to the head during the earlier skirmish has left his mind addled." Lord Voldemort nodded his head slowly and stepped back from them.

"I will indulge his curiosity this one time," Lord Voldemort allowed. "I wish to be rid of this girl, McKinnon," he told them. "I have spoken with my spy, Severus Snape, and he has given me the necessary information to eliminate her immediately. Rookwood has informed me of machinations on her part which make her disposal a priority for us. " He looked down at Bellatrix; who Lucius could tell was still hoping to be given permission to murder the Prewetts afterward. "Do not worry, my dear Bella," the Dark Lord assured her. "You will have your murders. You will have all of the murdering you could wish for." He grinned at his own comment and Lucius shuddered again. Of all of the possible facial expressions, the Dark Lord's smile was the most disturbing.

But the McKinnon girl held no issues for Lucius. He would gladly take her out in an instant were he to be given the order to. Not only was she one of Dumbledore's foul little Phoenix lapdogs, but she was one of the few of them that hadn't gone to Hogwarts. Marlene McKinnon had been born Marlene Sackheim and had been educated at the B'nai Kabbal in Israel; as had her family before her. She had grown up in Sussex, where every summer she had been subject to the attentions of a certain Rodolphus Lestrange, and had married Jackson McKinnon before she left school. McKinnon himself had been in Hogwarts the same years as Davis Travers and had been the kind of over intellectual Ravenclaw who was no real friend to anyone. His parents were Muggles, a pitiable fact for a wizard so clever and powerful, and he never seemed to have grown particularly comfortable in the Wizarding World. He would be easy enough to rub out as well. Lucius wondered silently if that was the Dark Lord's way of easing them in to the cold blooded murder of people they had grown up with.

"Shall we, then?" Lucius posed to the group. They were getting nothing accomplished by sitting in a parlor having drinks and talk.

"You shall, Lucius," the Dark Lord answered. "And you, Travers," he added. The Dark Lord looked about the room and continued. "Crouch and Dolohov, you may go as well," he granted. "This order of the foulest has come out of hiding it seems. I have known of their existence for some time, but I had not bothered to concern myself with them until now. They appear to have decided to truly wage war on us. We must show them tonight and in our actions from now on just what it is that they are asking for by defying me."

"My Lord…" Bellatrix began again.

"Hush, Bella!" Lord Voldemort snapped at her. "You will stay behind tonight as punishment for your presumptions." Bella's face fell, but she knew that she had no recourse in the matter. One did not challenge the Dark Lord when his mind had been made up. "Dolohov, you know where you are going," Lord Voldemort addressed Antonin as he made nasty faces in Bellatrix's direction. "So get gone!"

Not one of the men needed another word. Lucius, Travers, Dolohov and a flummoxed-looking Barty Crouch crossed intently out of the room and thought the front hall of the Lestrange place. They collected their coats, cloaks, and hats and were out the door in seconds. Three steps past the front stoop was far enough to clear the wards and Apparate away from there. The four of them joined hands to follow Dolohov to their intended destination.

The McKinnon's house was in a quaint little Wizarding hamlet attached to the Muggle city of Birmingham. It was a two story artifice with an old-fashioned looking thatched roof and miniature leaded-glass windows scattered in a nonsensical pattern across the exterior. The Death Eater squad approached quietly, and with no little caution; as the McKinnons were known to be a powerful couple. Lucius, of course, would much rather have put a pair as powerful as these two under and Imperious curse and had them in the Dark Lord's service, but orders were orders and that was all he needed to dismiss such thoughts and set to the work he had been given.

They approached the house and split up. Lucius brought Travers around the back with him while Dolohov and Crouch began looking for a way in the front. Lucius had to snicker at what he and his partner found when they got over the little wooden fence and into the McKinnons' back garden. A slight and rectangular window was standing fully open. Lucius shook his head. What fools these people were to leave a window open when there was a war on; particularly a war that the lady of the house was playing a very active part in. He would never leave a window or a door unbolted, much less open overnight; and the manor had wards that extended out a quarter of a mile or more in any given direction.

The two of them regarded the open window. It was smallish, about a foot tall and perhaps two feet and a half feet wide. Lucius knew that even if he could fold himself clear in half there was no way that he would fit through it. Travers, however, was another matter entirely. He was a good five inches shorter than Lucius was, and where he was not slight of build, he was slender enough to possibly get through the narrow opening. The back door to the house was within a foot of the window and as long as one of them could get inside, Lucius had no question that the door could be easily opened from the inside to allow all of them access to the house.

Travers seemed to be thinking the same thing as he sized up the window. "Give me a boost and I can get through it," he told Lucius. With a nod, Lucius pointed his wand at Travers' feet and watched his silent levitation charm raise his partner to the correct height to get himself through the window. He doubled himself over at the waist and slid one foot and then the other through the opening. Lucius heard a loud clatter when Travers first found foothold and he watched in annoyance as light appeared in an upstairs window.

"Kitchen sink," Travers explained.

"Hurry up!" Lucius urged him with a harsh whisper. Travers immediately jumped from where he had landed onto the floor and whirled over to unlock and open the back door. Lucius looked down at his comrade, whose right leg was wet to the knee. Apparently he had put his foot squarely into a sink full up with soapy water and dishes. "S_courgify!" _Lucius whispered, his wand trained on Travers' breeches.

"Thanks," he mouthed. Lucius nodded and gestured to the kitchen stairs, hoping that Travers could hear as well as he could the sound of footfalls on the upper level coming toward the steps. Lucius and Travers tiptoed to cover the opening where the steps met the doorway. Instinctively, Lucius surveyed his surroundings for possible exits and caught sight of the front door as he did. He flicked his wand through the air to turn the lever releasing the deadbolt. He then flung an easy but silent blasting curse at the door, leaving it slightly ajar for Barty and Antonin to find.

A wand came in to view at the bottom of the stairs before anything else did. Travers moved from the shadows as he watched a woman's hand come into view. Lucius measured his breaths as he waited to see if she was alone. The hand of a man also wielding a wand came into view before the woman's elbow even made it through the doorway. Lucius knew it was better to wait an extra few seconds to assure the killing curse would hit the target properly. He gestured to Travers, who nodded back in silent agreement that each would take the target closest to his position. For Lucius that meant dispatching the husband. He kept one eye on his partner and the other on his target.

Once the two McKinnons made it into full view, Lucius and his partner drew raised their wands and, as though being conducted by an outside force, called "_Avada Kedavra!"_ A burst of green light erupted from the combined power of their wands, allowing Marlene McKinnon barely time to begin to scream before the curses connected and the two of them fell backward against the kitchen stairs. Lucius nodded at Travers, who quirked his eyebrows in response. The two turned to leave out the back door when they heard the shuffling of footsteps again. Who else was in the house? Lucius glanced nervously at the front door, which was still in his field of view when he turned his head. It hadn't been moved. Damn.

Lucius heard shuffling again and he whipped around to see three small children clinging to each other and creeping en masse into the kitchen. "Mummy?" the littlest one called. She might have been four years old, if that, and Lucius felt his stomach turn as he looked down at them. They were half-blooded, filthy little offspring of Dumbledore's fools, but they were only children. Lucius found himself almost frozen as he looked down at them. It wasn't as though he hadn't ever killed a child before. In truth, he had done so dozens of times over. A few years ago a group of Death Eaters had wiped out several villages in Lithuania; men, women, and children alike had fallen at his wand. But he hadn't had a child to deal with since he'd had one of his own at home. His eyes were wide and he felt the bile rising in him as he realized that the eldest, a girl with dark ringlets, was about to scream.

And then she did scream. It was the loudest, most high-pitched; most unnatural sound Lucius could ever remember having heard. The noise of it tore Lucius from his thoughts and he trained his wand on the little girl. Before the killing curse could leave his lips, he saw a blinding flash of green light from just opposite him. The three children fell in a heap, one on top of the other in the middle of the kitchen floor. Lucius looked past the pile of dead children at his associates. Dolohov and Crouch were standing in the doorway the kids had come through moments earlier and they had yet to move their wands from casting position. Lucius hated himself for it, but he was grateful not to have been the one to eliminate those three.

The Dark Lord had told them more than once that the children were even more important than the parents. They had to get rid of the children. For, why exterminate the mudbloods and the blood traitors and yet leave behind an entire generation of their filthy progeny to avenge them? No, best to rid the planet of the littlest ones first. All Lucius could think of in that moment was Draco; that tiny little piece of perfection who these kids could have grown up to taint or to murder.

He felt peace in that moment. The right children would grow up and claim their places in the society that was being carved out for them now by their parents and grandparents. Children with names like Nott and Rosier, Crabbe, Bulstrode, and Macnair would grow into wizards and witches who would rule rightfully over the remains of the Muggle lovers and the mudbloods. And Draco Malfoy would be a prince among them. Lucius was sure of that; and he had to remember such things when confronted by a similar scenario in the future. He had been caught off guard momentarily; this new part of him, fatherhood, had clouded his thinking for an instant. It would not happen again.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

So we have a wine tasting scheduled, but no wine. And boy have I been at work forever already this morning. Sorry it took me so long to get to the violence- I wasn't aware that they were about to get so chatty there in the living room. And believe me, Bella will get her turn with the Prewetts; all in good time. I had to kill the McKinnons first to keep canon… I mean… because the Dark Lord told me to.

And the bit at the end- the disturbing bit about killing the kids first…that was vintage Eichmann. Since the Death Eaters were spun from the Knights of Walpurgis (according to JKR), and I see the Knights of Walpurgis as being a direct descendant of the Order of Blood and Soil (an SS mystical organization), I thought that Voldemort would likely take a page from their playbook. We're not just rated T for language, folks. More later- I must go make movies happen.

Comments are greatly appreciated.

-MQ


	14. Chapter 14

"Lucius, dance with me?" Narcissa leaned in to her husband as they sat near the bay windows of the Rosiers' ground floor ballroom and listened to the band playing a raucous polka. "Just once?" she added. Lucius squared his jaw at her and shook his head.

He was annoyed enough that there was dancing at tonight's festivities. The feast of Samhain had been held for generations by the Rosiers of Wiltshire and never before had it included a dance band. This party was known as a sedate yet amusing evening of the best cuisine that could be found in Wizarding Britain. Apparently that girl who Evan had married had not thought to research the history of the event, but rather had chosen to throw whatever soiree she fancied with no mind to consulting anyone as to how to go about doing so without making a fool of herself.

The resulting party was the worst kind of debacle. The food was certainly not up to the standards of the Rosiers' past gatherings, and the décor left much to be desired. The room was filled with stuffy men in stuffy suits who looked down their noses at the exuberant youth who whirled ever faster to the polka that the blasted band was cranking out. Darly had clearly invited the entirety of her in-laws guest lists from years past as well as perhaps every witch or wizard her own age for whom she had a current address. It was obvious to Lucius, and anyone else who cared to take notice, that the two groups seemed to want nothing to do with each other. Darly Rosier would be lucky if the worst that came of this night were that her own invitations to dine or to celebrate would be respectfully declined for the foreseeable future. She would more likely also miss out on the next year's volley of invitations to events hosted by everyone in attendance tonight as well.

Narcissa however, who adored Darly Rosier, seemed bound and determined to appear as though she were having a good time. Lucius allowed himself a half-smile at his wife. Narcissa smiled back at him, hopefully. She was almost fully convinced that Darly had only hired a band because of a recent mention of how long it had been since she and Lucius had danced, and she did not wish her younger cousin to think she didn't appreciate the gesture. "This party is dreadful, the music is dreadful, the entire evening has been nothing short of dreadful," Lucius said to her softly. It was true that this was the worst party in Narcissa's recent memory, but she would be damned if she would aid and abet those who wanted to make Darly miserable over it.

"It's not that bad," she countered. Narcissa saw on Lucius' face that he was not buying her pretense of enjoyment. "Okay, it is that bad," she conceded. "But it's not Darly's fault…" She hesitated again. "Alright, it is Darly's fault, but she didn't know any better," Narcissa defended. "She's barely nineteen and she's from the country."

"So were you," Lucius reminded his wife.

"But I was a Black," she corrected him. There was something to be said for being from an old family; no matter where the family's land holdings lie.

"And a Rosier," he added. "Your mother knew how to throw the most smashing soirees."

"Darly's only a Rosier by marriage," Narcissa commented, "and she's new at it."

"Your aunt Eileen was wise enough to have asked her predecessor for guidance," Lucius informed her. Eileen Rosier had made as much of a scene earlier in the evening as any pureblooded lady might have let herself. She had entered the ballroom quietly, taken one look at the tacky yellow and orange flowers and the little patches of pumpkins strewn about and excused herself presently with a splitting headache.

"One dance, Lucius, please?" she asked again. "Just one waltz? Just one little waltz and we can go home," she bargained.

"No," he insisted.

"Are you ashamed of me?" she asked. What an odd question. "Are you ashamed that your silly little wife wants to dance at this ridiculous party?" Lucius frowned at her. "Because if that's really the case," she continued, "then I an certain that my cousin Evan or his father would be quite willing to give me that waltz."

"I am in no way ashamed of you, my pet," he assured her. "But I do not think that your health has progressed to a point at which it would be quite prudent for you to engage in something as strenuous as dancing." He was telling the truth. He'd nearly uttered an audible swear word when he had first seen the room set up for dancing rather than for a banquet. Lucius knew that his wife was fond of dancing, and that she would likely back him in to this very corner as the night wore on. But he had no intention of letting her exert herself so.

"Oh poppycock," she rebutted. Narcissa leaned in a little closer still and continued. "May I remind you, Lucius Malfoy," she began, with a venom in her tone that usually did not meet his ears in public; "Of certain activities which we tend to engage in with some regularity that are far more strenuous than a Viennese Waltz?" She looked up at him, her expression stern and her eyebrows raised. Damn. She had him there.

The two of them had, in the last month or so, fallen into a lovely nightly routine. Lucius would leave the house in time for a standing midnight appointment in the sacred circle. He would return before three and she would be waiting for him somewhere in the manor. As she recovered, Narcissa had insisted on doing more and more of the baby-related chores herself, so she had begun sleeping and waking largely on Draco's schedule; a fact which certainly worked no hardship on her husband. Lucius would sometimes try to find her; sometimes he would send Dobby to her with instructions that she was to do the searching. The manor was large, and its many rooms led to amusing nights of hiding and seeking.

Narcissa had quite a gift for Legillimency that Lucius had never realized. She was stupendously better at this game than he was. Lucius could always feel her in his mind long before she found him physically. He was a skilled enough Occlumens that he could easily have shut her out (after all; she was gifted but never trained) but what fun would that possibly have been? He rather enjoyed the feeling of her mind inside of his, and the rush of adrenaline he got when he felt her certainty of his location. And then they made love in whatever room they had found each other in.

It was the best sex he'd ever had in his life. The newness of seeking her out and of her newfound enthusiasm for christening every room in the manor coupled with the years of experience they had with pleasing each other made every night a thoroughly blissful experience. And yes, there had not been a night since August when their nocturnal activities hadn't reached a pitch far beyond what might be expected of a waltz. Lucius quirked his lip at his wife. It pleased him that he had married a proper lady and managed to bring out her inner vixen. "One waltz," he allowed her, his eyes still smoldering with the thoughts of other things. "One waltz, but then we go." Narcissa's face lit up at his agreement.

Lucius was silently grateful that she was unaware of how that smile affected him. That smile; the unguarded one that took over her entire face from chin to forehead, was enough to get him to do anything she asked of him. Had she promised him that smile, he'd have danced a damned polka with her. As it was he was happy to consent to a waltz and then to take her the hell home. Narcissa looked toward the band leader and nodded her head once, at which time the music began to segue from the frenetic strains of the polka to the dulcet tones of a Viennese. Lucius stood and offered his hand to his wife. "You set me up," he whispered in her ear as she stood.

"Perhaps I did," she teased. "But aren't you glad?" she asked him. "I mean: this way we can dance and get out of here. That's what you want, isn't it… to go home?" It was indeed what he wanted to do at the moment. The feast of Samhain was certainly no excuse to skive off the errands that the Dark Lord would undoubtedly be sending them on this night, and he wished to get Narcissa settled at home before he had to take off.

Lucius wrapped his arm around her waist as he led her in the beginning of the Viennese Waltz. Narcissa threw her head back with glee as they rounded the first corner and she looked back at him with the smile he so cherished. He did enjoy dancing with her; he always had. The first time they'd waltzed together, she'd been in her sixth year at Hogwarts and he had just set his mind to winning her heart and her hand. It was her father's birthday and the first time he'd seen her since her sister Andromeda had run away and been disowned. He remembered having to coax her out of her parlor to dance with him in the first place and how much he enjoyed having monopolized her time the rest of the afternoon.

Narcissa tilted her head a little bit to the side as she grinned at her husband. He was a marvelous dancer. And he was looking at her with the smile that made the corners of his eyes crinkle and that had made her heart skip a beat for as long as she could remember having known him. She could remember dozens of times when they'd danced and she loved that it had never gotten old for her. She loved to dance with him, even at such an abysmal gathering.

As the waltz drew to a close, Lucius winked at her and twirled her around for one final time before stepping back from her and offering her his hand. She took his hand gladly and followed him off of the dance floor. He noticed that her face looked a little flushed and he stepped in a bit closer to her to ask, "Are you feeling alright?" Narcissa nodded in response.

"I'm a little warm," she admitted. "Come get some air with me?" Lucius nodded back to her and led her through the double doors and in to the hallway. "This way," Narcissa insisted, turning sharply around a corner and leading him up a narrow set of stairs that he never would have seen had she not pointed them out. She kept hold of his hand as they reached the landing and she made another sharp turn. She ducked the both of them into a room on the left side of the hallway and closed the door behind them.

Narcissa grinned wickedly at him and removed her wand from its hidden pocket, waving it toward the door before leaning in to Lucius and kissing him hungrily. "Is this what you meant by getting some air, Mrs. Malfoy?" he asked. She giggled sheepishly and shrugged her shoulders.

"This room," she explained, "connects to two others," she pointed with her wand to a door on each opposite wall perpendicular to the door they had just come in. "When we were younger these were the rooms we stayed in. This one was mine, and that one was Bella's, and the other one was An's. And I remember at least a dozen times that Bella had some boyfriend over and they locked themselves in that room to do all manner of inappropriate things. If I had to guess, that's where she and Roddy disappeared to an hour ago. And I was always just a little jealous of her," she added, moving behind him and sliding his jacket from his shoulders. "Because she was ever so popular with the gentlemen, and I was just her bothersome baby sister." She draped his jacket over her arm and pulled at the knot that fastened his hair off of his neck until it came loose and fell wildly about his shoulders. She draped his jacket over the back of a nearby chair and left his hair tie on its corresponding table. She then moved back in front of him and unfastened the green and brown bolero jacket from over her matching chocolate-covered robes, revealing an almost indecently décolleté cut. "And now I think," she continued, dropping the jacket to the floor next to them and moving in to him again. "That I would like it very much if I get to have my suitor in my bedroom without the knowledge of our hosts. And I am also very much of the opinion that you might begin to forgive Darly this pitiful occasion if I were to show you a good time. I know that you will have to leave me at twelve o'clock and as far as I am concerned we have just enough time to enjoy ourselves a little before making our excuses and heading home so that you can scoot off." Lucius grinned down at her and moved his hands onto her waist.

"A very astute observation, Mrs. Malfoy," he growled. This was a much better use of the night than what was going on in the ballroom. "You are a remarkably brilliant woman."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

And so a chapter of fluff. I thought the world could use some fluff after the last bit. Later is more blood and mayhem. You know I love reviews!!! More later 

-MQ


	15. Chapter 15

Lucius followed as Walden Macnair and Antonin Dolohov led the contingent of Death Eaters through the streets of Muggle London. Since the damnable Order of the Phoenix had come out of the shadows to fight them, Masks and hoods had come back into vogue, and Lucius couldn't help but think that they looked awfully conspicuous making their way toward their target. They drew only just that much more attention as Bellatrix insisted upon hopping and skipping her way through the group and wound up a consistently bouncing and obnoxious speck out in front, babbling and cackling like a mad woman.

Not that she was altogether sane. But Bellatrix had initiated her own private celebration tonight. She had met today, quite by accident, with Order of the Phoenix member Benjy Fenwick and had managed to coax him into a darkened alley where she had dispensed with him in such a way as to have left him "in itsy weency tiny little pieces". Fenwick had been marked for death by the Dark Lord days previous, and had somehow learned of this fact. He hadn't been anyplace that the Death Eaters had expected to find him and Bella had certainly placed her self firmly back into the Dark Lord's good graces by dispensing with him when she did.

"Pieces pieces pieces and little bits of Benjy!" Bella sang as again she bounded out in front of the group.

"You don't have to run, Bellatrix, there's no hurry," Lucius sniped at her. It was true that he had no real desire to get home tonight. It was Narcissa's birthday today and she had spent the entire afternoon making anyone who came into the room with her miserable. She had wanted a party; a grand and auspicious ball to celebrate her 'silver jubilee', as though turning twenty-five had been something she wasn't dreading. Lucius had called her on the fact that she had, in fact, dreaded this birthday and that she was only trying to throw such an event to redeem the social status of one Darly Rosier. Lucius had managed to convince his wife that Mrs. Rosier's redemption could be better achieved during the regularly scheduled Solstice Ball and had made plans for the two of them to enjoy this birthday in a secluded castle somewhere in Luxembourg.

But then had come little Vincent Crabbe's one-year-old birthday party. The Bulstrode's daughter had caught cold from one of the household staff and had managed to get every baby at the party to come down with it. Draco had been no exception.

"I'm certainly in no hurry to get home tonight," Jasper Goyle injected into the conversation. "The baby's still got that cold and it's bloody loud all the time."

"No kidding," Christopher Parkinson piped up. "And Ivy insists that she knows what to do, but every time she so much as picks Pansy up, the kid just screams louder."

"I've got a nanny out with it," Lucius told the others. "And Narcissa's got it too." It was the first time in Lucius' memory that he had no real desire to be at home with his wife and baby. Narcissa was not good at being sick; she would inevitably try to ignore the fact that she was ill until she had worn herself entirely out and collapsed for hours. She refused to even pursue the idea of anything that might make her better, much less send out for pepperup potion. Draco, for whom there was no potion to soothe, cried incessantly. And being short a nursemaid was not helping matters. Lucius felt a little guilty about being so eager to leave his sick wife with his sick baby on her birthday, but he had to admit that he was glad to be out of the house.

"Awwww," Bella teased them. "The domesticated British house-wizard; how quaint," she sneered. "But while you all were at home changing nappies and warming bottles, I was out turning Dumbledore's little stooges into little bloody pieces." Bella began her bouncing again.

"I am certain that the Dark Lord is pleased with you for the moment, Bella," Lucius told his babbling sister-in-law. "But He is also pleased that the next generation of his followers is being brought up with such care. What are you doing to assure the future of the movement, Bella?" he asked, a snide tone in his voice that told all who were listening that he was sure that remark would shut her up for a minute. It did. Bella bounded away again and continued with her mumbles of 'pieces' and 'bits'.

"Calm down, Bellatrix," Walden Macnair insisted. Bella sneered at him and continued with her display of insanity.

"Bella," Rodolphus growled at her. Bellatrix stopped her bouncing and stalked to her husband's side. Lucius wondered silently what exactly it was that allowed Roddy to gain control over her so simply, but it occurred to him that he'd likely be disturbed by whatever it was.

Dolohov signaled for them to turn a corner and then follow him down a narrow alley between two tall brick buildings. The Death Eaters, bouncing Bellatrix included, fell in to line and followed behind Dolohov and Macnair, aware by their leaders' change in behavior that their intended destination was nigh.

Dolohov signaled to the Lestranges and Lucius to peer through a low rectangular window. The group of them ducked and looked through the dirt-encrusted glass. The window was to a dim and dingy basement; nothing interesting there. But Macnair pointed through the room to windows on it opposite side.

The building had a courtyard. In the center of the grassy quadrangle was a little tin building that reminded Lucius of a cheap Muggle tool shed. The Death Eaters had been told that the Order of the Phoenix was to be guarding some rare and exquisite magical item from Lord Voldemort at all costs. Lucius could scarcely imagine the Dark Lord wishing for any item that was housed in such a pitiable tin building. But that was the crux of the matter; Lord Voldemort had no interest in whatever this item was in the least. However, Dumbledore suspected that He did, and so the Order had been commanded to guard this shed with their lives.

The Death Eaters had gotten this information by means of a new and apparently useful information source. Peter Pettigrew, a rat-faced young man who Lucius had recognized as being in the same year at Hogwarts with Severus Snape, had joined with them as a spy when he had realized that the war was turning in their favor. Their trust in Pettigrew had been dubious at best to begin with, but now it seemed that his information as to the whereabouts of so many of the members of Dumbledore's little Order seemed to have borne fruit.

Lucius nodded back to Macnair and Dolohov as they took inventory of the people they had a view of. Lucius counted nine of them including Pettigrew, who the Death Eaters knew to stun immediately so that he could feign injury and not betray his new loyalty. There were twelve Death Eaters present and the Dark Lord had even mentioned the possibility of showing himself on this occasion. Those were more than suitable odds for engagement.

Matthew Macnair and Charlton Avery went past where the others had stopped and had set to charming open the lock on the cellar door. When they had managed to get the door open, Avery signaled to the others to follow him inside. They crept through the basement of the mildew-stinking building and took up positions near to several means of exit against the far wall. Five of them went up the rickety stairs in a corner so as to make their entrance from a first floor doorway and the others gathered around the tall windows or the narrow doorway leading up in to the courtyard. Lucius stood with Evan Rosier, Fenrir Greyback, and Davis Travers at the largest of the doors into the courtyard and waited for the signal to go in.

When Dolohov gave the signal, the bunch of them burst from the building and in to the courtyard. Christopher Parkinson fired off a stunning spell at Pettigrew first thing and the bunch of them watched as their secret ally fell silently by. Lucius lunged forward and knocked out a witch he didn't recognize as he felt the sting of a blasting curse hit him from the side.

He could hear the sounds of battle around him as he struggled to recover from the hex he was almost sure had come from the Auror Moody. He stood again in time to fling a similar curse at Moody and a noisy and ill-aimed _Avada Kedavra_ at a certain James Potter, whom Lucius could remember as having been in Severus Snape's year at Hogwarts and a truly pompous bully at that. Potter dodged the quick hex and turned back on Lucius with a blasting curse that barely missed his shoulder. Lucius let his eyes follow the curse past him as he had seen Potter running in the other direction. He turned just in time to see the witch he'd first hexed training her wand on him. He hit her squarely in the chest with "_Sectumpsempra!_" and watched as she fell backwards into a shrub.

Lucius could hear a voice he recognized immediately as the Dark Lord's own as he moved to where Dolohov and three others seemed to have their hands full. "Take that, Gryffindor Baggage!" Evan Rosier called at the two young men that they were fighting with. It was the Prewett brothers; the cousins of the Blacks and the Rosiers that Bellatrix had been so keen to take out months ago. Gideon, the elder of the two by three years, managed to knock Dolohov off kilter as his brother Fabian fired off an effective "_Expelliarmus!_" against Rabastan Lestrange.

"_Avada Kedavra_!" Lucius called at Fabian. The auburn-haired man barely dodged the curse by diving to the ground and was narrowly able to keep from rolling into a ricocheted curse that had been fired at his brother by Algernon Yaxley. Lucius could hear pops of Apparition as the wounded from both sides were finding it prudent to retreat and then there was a fully unfamiliar sound coming from above and behind him.

"_Avada Kedavra_!" Evan Rosier called again in the direction of one of the Prewetts as Lucius turned to discern the origin of the odd noise. His eyes fell on a most disturbing sight. The sound had been the sliding of a glass door.

Lucius had been all but sure that this was a Muggle building, and now he was more than certain that a Muggle had just walked onto her terrace and witnessed their battling. How stupid of Dumbledore to place an object that he figured the Dark Lord had designs on in the middle of a Muggle apartment building. Lucius glared at the woman as she stepped onto her balcony and realized that she wasn't fully alone.

She was holding an infant, not much larger than Draco from the looks of him. And the damned baby was crying to beat the band. The child wailed louder than Lucius imagined it possible for a baby to be. Damn. Even if the magic of the battle was shielded from the Muggle ears around, that damned infant would surely wake the neighbors and soon enough they would have a bona fide audience. He could not have this. He sneered at the Muggle woman and silently pointed his wand at her; shouting "_Avada Kedavra!_" at the mother and baby. He knew instantly that his hex had taken as he could hear a sudden cessation in the infant's damnable cries. He watched for a moment as the both of them slumped to the floor of the terrace and turned back to the fight in front of him.

Gideon Prewett had fallen. He was dead, Lucius was sure of it, but Fabian still would not give up. Beyond Prewett, Lucius could see Lord Voldemort having all manner of fun with James Potter and a witch he thought might be Potter's wife as well as Bellatrix dueling one-on-one with the Auror Alastor Moody. Davis Travers seemed to be dueling to the death with Sirius Black and Theodore Nott had Remus Lupin pinned to a wall. Rodolphus was nowhere to be found, and Lucius had to wonder where most of their contingent had gotten off to. "_Stupefy!_" Lucius called, his wand pointed at the back of the crouching Fabian Prewett. Prewett stumbled and then fell, face first into the dirt. He coughed as grainy bits of earth lodged themselves into his nasal passages and airway.

"_Avada Kedavra!_" Dolohov called out again. This time the blinding green light from his wand made contact and Fabian Prewett ceased trying to stand. Lucius took a deep breath as the group of them moved off of the now still brothers. Moody managed to dodge Bellatrix just so that she spun on her heel for long enough for her target to reach his deceased friends and Apparate away from there. The pops of Apparition were enough to distract Nott from his task and it was just then that Lupin also managed to get away.

Bella had fallen even farther into madness since they'd been there, it seemed, and she was now cackling ever louder and practically giggling the words 'pieces' and 'bits' over and over again. She was trying to taunt Sirius Black, it seemed, who was still embroiled in conflict with Travers. Seeing the group of half a dozen Death Eaters coming at him, Sirius Black suddenly seemed to have thought better of his odds. He cast something sideways at the Potters, who were still being toyed with by the Dark Lord, and then Apparated himself away.

Lord Voldemort seemed to have been more than a little bit surprised by the casting and turned his head to look at where the spell that had just hot his quarry might have come from. His attention off of them for barely a second, James and Lily Potter managed to Apparate themselves away.

It was then that the Death Eaters found themselves alone in the courtyard. Lord Voldemort made a growling sound in his throat and sneered at the lot of them before Disapparating himself; leaving Lucius, Travers, Nott, Bellatrix, Dolohov, Evan, Yaxley, and Rabastan to figure out the next move.

"We should destroy that shed and everything in it," Evan posited.

"Not so," Lucius corrected his cousin. "We should vanish everything in it, and them we should destroy it."

"Why do we vanish it, Lucius?" Dolohov asked. "Why do we deal with it at all?"

"Because, Antonin," Lucius stressed the other man's name in a way that made all of those present quite sure that it was being used in place of an epithet. "We wish Dumbledore to continue to believe that it was the desire for a magical item that brought us here tonight. We would not wish to give that old fool any reason to believe that he has a spy among his ranks and that it was his information that led us to them tonight."

"Then we do as Lucius says," Dolohov ordered the bunch of them. Lucius nodded his head and noticed that his vision had begun to become blurry. He reached his hand underneath his mask and realized that his wool glove found a rather nasty gash on the side if his face. Damn. He was going to hear it when he got home. Narcissa went positively weak-kneed at the sight of blood and, as much as she never shrank from caring for him when he needed it, he was sure that cleaning blood from her husband's face whilst sick with a cold and listening to a wailing infant would not have been the way she would have chosen to spend her 'silver jubilee'.

"Your mask is turning red, Lucius," Rosier informed him before he could even remove his hand from underneath it. "We're about done here," he added. "Go get cleaned up. It's Cissy's bloody birthday for Merlin's sake." Lucius sighed and nodded his head. Maybe he should get home.

"Your passion for the work seems to be ever staunch, dear brother," Bella cackled at him, her face and her wand pointed at the dead Muggle and baby on the nearby balcony. "But apparently you're getting slow in your old age."

"Might I remind you, Mrs. Lestrange," he answered back, "that you're two years older than I?"

"But as swift as I ever was," Bella answered.

"You always were fast, Bella," Lucius spat back. "But that has very little to do with what we're doing here." Lucius stood and smirked at her, his lips curling menacingly beneath his blood streaked mask. "And I am going home now," he added before Disapparating.

Lucius felt the familiar tug of his guts inverting themselves through his nose and back again and found himself gladly back on his own balcony. He quickly divested himself of his mask and hood, his wool robes and gloves, and his overcoat. In his shirtsleeves, he stalked across the small library into which he'd come from the terrace, and quickly slipped into the bathroom at the end of the hall.

The cut on his forehead wasn't so bad, but it seemed to have been gushing blood from where it passed over his temple. He struggled for a moment as to whether he wanted to try and clean himself up first or go and find his wife. Narcissa always knew what to do when such things happened to him, but he'd rather not worry her. And Narcissa was notorious for worrying about him. Lucius ran cool water from the tap and dampened one of the omnipresent yellow guest towels that lay to the side of the sink. He blotted at the cut with the wet towel just as he'd seen his wife do dozens of times.

Ouch! That hurt. How was it that Narcissa could do the same exact thing and it not hurt at all? Lucius shook his head and gave up on trying to stop the bleeding. He wiped the blood from his face that had dripped out of the cut and straightened his hair a little in the mirror before vanishing the bloodied towel and heading back out of the door.

He made a quick trip of the second floor hallway and the stairs that led to his and Narcissa's private rooms on the third floor. The children's wing was on the same level at the other end of the house, and they'd had a door installed so that the two areas could communicate while Draco was small enough not to mind his parents coming in unannounced. Whether Narcissa was in their rooms or their son's, he would find her soon enough.

He walked into their private living room and spotted her immediately. Narcissa was in her nightgown, having not so much as bothered to pull on a dressing gown. She was lying on her back on the long sofa near the fireplace, asleep. And little Draco was lying on her chest, curled into a ball and also asleep. Lucius smiled warmly at the sight of them; his pretty wife and precious baby sleeping like the pair of angels he fancied them to be. He crept toward the two of them and took hold of his little son, cradling the baby in his arms as he crossed to place the still sleeping infant in his nearby bassinette.

Lucius couldn't remember which of the nursemaids was scheduled to be on duty tonight, and he could only hope that whichever of them was supposed to be there, she had merely left Narcissa and Draco to sleep and not gone home with the same cold that had the lady of the house and its young master so miserably ill. He lay the baby in the bassinette carefully and covered him with the linen blanket that had been a gift to them from Narcissa's parents. "Good night little Dragon," he whispered to the baby, patting him on the back before turning to the boy's mother.

Lucius tiptoed back to the sofa and knelt down next to his still slumbering wife. He thought for a moment about simply bringing her a blanket and leaving her to sleep, but thought better of it. She'd be stiff and sore and even more miserable were she to spend a whole night on the sofa when she was accustomed to a goose down featherbed. "Cissa," he whispered into her ear. "Wake up, pet," he encouraged. Narcissa stirred and opened her swollen and sleepy eyes to him.

"Hello love," she groaned, righting herself to sit on the sofa properly. "Did you get done what you needed to?" she asked, yawning.

"Yes, pet," he answered. "How was your evening?" Narcissa shook her head.

"It was awful," she confessed. "Draco was fussier than I've ever heard him, and I can't breathe through my nose and I have no sense of taste left and Meg threatened to quit and Faireen laughed at me." Lucius shook his head. "Oh Merlin!" Narcissa exclaimed, seeing the cut on her husband's temple.

"Oh, that," Lucius suddenly realized what she meant by her comment. "That's nothing," he assured her. "It doesn't even hurt," he assured her. "Now tell me why Meg threatened to quit." He was more than a little worried as to how come one of his very generously compensated nursemaids would threaten such a thing.

"She said that because I'm miserable that I'm making everyone else around me miserable." Lucius chuckled softly and brushed an errant strand of hair behind her ear.

"And is that what Faireen laughed at you about?" he asked. She shook her head.

"No," Narcissa sniffed. "She said that I made the typical first time parent mistake of forgetting that baby germs are the same size as grown people germs and that by holding the baby and kissing the baby and letting the baby eat off of my ice cream spoon that I was bound to catch his cold."

"You let a five month old have ice cream?" he asked her. Narcissa hung her head and rolled her eyes.

"That's hardly the point, Lucius," she argued. Lucius stood and reached for her hands, which she gave him, allowing herself to be pulled to a stand and into his embrace. He sighed deeply as he wrapped his arms around his drowsy love. Why was he so anxious to get out of the house tonight?

"It's still your birthday," he told her. "Still for another hour almost."

"Can we save my birthday for when I feel better?" she asked, her face still buried in his chest. Lucius nodded.

"Yes, dearest," he answered, "we can. We can still go to Luxembourg, too," he told her. "That castle will be waiting for us for as soon as you're ready to get away."

"That sounds nice," she sighed, wrapping her arms around his waist as tightly as she was able.

"Time for bed, pet?" he asked. Narcissa nodded, her head still buried in his chest, but otherwise didn't move. Lucius chuckled and stepped back from her a few inches. "Bath first?" he asked. He had to admit that suggestion was as much for his own benefit as for Narcissa's. He knew that the steam from the hot water spigot had made her head a little clearer on nights previous, but he also felt very strongly that he could benefit from a hot bath himself at the moment.

"You'll come with me?" she asked. As though there were any question.

"Of course I will," he answered, leaning in to kiss her forehead.

"Rub my shoulders?" she requested.

"Mm-hmm," he confirmed. Narcissa nodded her head.

"Yes please," she requested. Lucius took both of her hands and led her to their marble bathroom. It was finally time to relax.

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SORRY!!! About the 2 whole days and portions of 2 other days that have had no updates during them. I have had madness at work and with wedding planning and my show rehearsals so I've not been close to the internet. Let me know what you thought of my action sequence… please.

-MQ


	16. Chapter 16

Lucius was beginning to hate Darly Rosier. She was a ninny and as maddening a specimen of woman as he ever could have imagined. He didn't know how Evan could stand living with her.

After the debacle that had been the Samhain feast, Darly had done well enough at salvaging her social status by behaving according to Narcissa's instructions during the Malfoys' annual Winter Solstice celebration. She had done so well, it seemed, that she felt it proper to try hosting another event herself. With New Year's already committed to the Goyles', Darly had chosen St. Valentine's Day as the next appropriate occasion to throw a dinner party. She had invited more than half of Wizarding Britain to this particular soiree, and Wizarding Britain had politely declined.

Somehow Darly, still a newlywed, had not thought her decision through thoroughly. Lucius couldn't see why in the name of Merlin she had thought for even a second that anyone would come to the blasted party. None of the women, Narcissa included, was about to trade the chance at a romantic evening with her husband for a dinner party at Darly Rosier's invitation. Darly had, of course, been completely heartbroken over this intentional slight and had come to her older and well-placed cousin-in-law for advice. That had left Darly weeping and wailing to Narcissa for the majority of the afternoon and evening, and Narcissa trying in vain to explain that Valentine's Day was really not the best occasion for a party. They had been at it for hours.

And so, now Lucius was stuck spending his Valentine's night alone in his library while his wife comforted her weeping cousin in the living room. He had decided that he'd give them ten more minutes before he did something rude; like insist that Darly go home and leave Narcissa be. He knew that such action might not sit well with his wife, but he didn't care overmuch.

"Lucius," he heard his name called from the doorway to the library. He glanced toward the door from his seat in front of the fireplace, hoping heartily that Narcissa was there alone. He smiled pleasantly when he saw that she was, in fact, by herself in the doorway. And his smile got still wider when he saw what she was wearing.

"You found your gift," he observed, regarding the sparkling sapphires around her neck. She nodded.

"I did," she confirmed, walking toward him with an equally wide smile. "They're beautiful." Lucius stood and closed the distance between them, placing his hands on her waist.

"I'm glad you approve." He had thought that the gift of sapphire-blue silk sheets and a necklace to match would be something his wife would enjoy. Earlier in the day, he'd had the sheets and shams put onto their bed by the house-elf, Ooble, and then he'd lay the jewels across her pillow for her to find. "I was planning to take you out this evening and let you find all of it when we returned home," he shared, "but you seemed to have other plans." He raised his eyebrows at her.

He didn't want to start a fight with her, but he felt as though he had every right to be a little bit annoyed with the fact that he'd spent more of the day alone than he had with her. He'd had some business to attend to, but he'd been bored for the majority of the afternoon and evening; Draco was only amusing for so long at a stretch.

"Oh Lucius," she sighed, "please don't be angry with me. Darly was sobbing on my shoulder. What would you have had me do; send her home in that state? I know Evan, Lucius, and he would have bellowed at her and made her even more miserable than she already was."

"You know that you do not have to solve everyone's problems for them, Narcissa?" he gently reminded her.

"And I assure you I solved nothing," she answered him. "But what I did do was manage to get the poor dear to stop crying. And in the mean time, I shot off a message to Evan to make sure he did something nice for her when she got home; as it is her first Valentine's Day as his wife, and that he absolutely not mention the failed attempt at a party to her."

"You're good to her," Lucius told his wife. "But I refuse to sacrifice our wedding anniversary to the cause of the social redemption of Darly Rosier." Lucius could see in his wife's eyes what she had been plotting. Narcissa had taken great pains to see to it that Darly had been received glowingly at their Solstice ball, and that her reception had been entirely Narcissa's doing. He would not have put it past his sweet and thoughtful wife to find a reason to throw yet another party so as to again repair Darly's position; and their anniversary was the next appropriate occasion.

"We're going to Luxembourg for our anniversary," Narcissa reminded him. Yes, Luxembourg. They had been trying to get away since Narcissa's birthday in November and had finally settled on the idea of spending their wedding anniversary in the castle Lucius had discovered could be rented for the week. "We're leaving Draco with the Rosiers and taking off for a romantic holiday, isn't that right?" she asked, grinning up at him.

"Quite correct, Mrs. Malfoy," he confirmed. "We were to be spending tonight in Paris," he informed her. "But instead you spent the night in the living room and I in the library."

"You're really angry with me," she observed. Lucius wasn't sure. He hadn't really thought himself past annoyed with her, but he had made a rather intricate plan that the intrusion of Mrs. Rosier had all but completely spoiled. Narcissa slumped her shoulders and shook her head. "I'm a terrible wife," she sighed. "I should have seen this coming days ago and dispensed with Darly's tears then. That way we could have done whatever we wanted to do tonight and I'd not have been bothered." Lucius sighed. He hadn't meant to make her mad at herself any more than he'd wanted to fight with her. It was easier on him when he made her mad then when he made her sad. Lucius couldn't stand seeing his wife unhappy. He pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her.

"You're not terrible, pet," he consoled, kissing her lightly on the forehead. "I promise. I'm just being nasty because I wanted you all to myself tonight."

"And I wanted just the same," she told him. "But I'll not have that any time soon," she added. Narcissa tilted her chin against his chest and looked up at her husband. "I shall share you with the Dark Lord and with the cause and with the Sacred Circle until such time as the war is finished and we've won. Until then I shall be content to steal what moments I can." Lucius shook his head. She had a look on her face that he recognized, but did not enjoy.

She looked sad, pensive, and frightened all at once. He wrapped his arms around her a little tighter and stroked her hair. "The Dark Lord does require my attendance," he conceded. "But that does not lessen my devotion to you and to Draco. The things I do in the name of the Dark Lord are for our future."

"I know that," she allowed, slipping her hands beneath his jacket and waistcoat so that she could feel the warmth of his skin beneath his shirt. "And I do not think that the Dark Lord would wish me ill for wanting a swift victory for any reason," she added.

"No," Lucius agreed, "I do not think he would. I, too, look forward to the day when there are no more battles to fight. When we rule in our rightful place over the mudbloods and the Muggles and the half breeds, it will be a blessed day indeed."

"And I shall have my conquering hero all to myself," she affirmed.

"That you will, my dearest," he agreed, placing his hands on either of her cheeks and tilting her face up to him. He placed a feather-light kiss on her lips and smiled down at her. "Are you hungry, pet?" he asked her. Narcissa considered for a second and then nodded her head. "Then come with me," he encouraged, taking her hand and leading her out onto the balcony.

----0000----0000----0000----0000----

Paris was truly a lovely city. Narcissa had always thought so. Lucius had Apparated them onto the front steps of the _hotel d'aime cher_, where Narcissa had scarcely a moment to realize that she was freezing cold before he swept her inside and up two flights of stairs. They entered a small but perfectly appointed room, where she was shown a gigantic box on the settee at the end of the queen-sized bed.

The box had contained the most beautiful silver fox fur coat that she had ever seen, and Lucius had taken great care in putting it on her. When she'd reached into the pockets, she had found earrings that matched the necklace that he'd so thoughtfully placed upon her pillow and Narcissa couldn't help but be overwhelmed at how thorough he had planned all of this.

He had pointed out that he'd intended to have gotten there hours earlier, and that they were already running late for their dinner reservation, so he'd scooted her back out of the room and down to the street below. They'd walked less than a block before entering the lovely little café des coeurs and being led immediately to a table in the back.

Dinner had been amazing, and so had the carriage ride through the Wizarding parts of Paris. And once they'd gotten back to the hotel room, Narcissa had no qualms about showing Lucius just how much she appreciated the thought that had gone in to everything they'd done tonight. From the sheets to the fur to the jewelry, everything had been completely perfect and Narcissa wasn't afraid to show her husband just how pleased she was.

It had been drilled into Narcissa as a girl and a young woman that no lady was ever to seek physical contact with her husband. 'Appearing needy will not sit well with him', they would tell her, and she had believed it. Why should her mother and her aunt Eileen wish to tell her falsehoods? For the first several years of her marriage, Narcissa had lived by that rule; never approaching Lucius nor initiating contact even in the bedroom. But gradually, his insistence that he could never be bothered by her touch had won out over the teachings of her childhood, and she had learned the joys of being just as in control of their physical interactions as he was.

The taste of champagne still clung to both their lips and the thrill of having snuck away was clinging to them wildly as they devoured each other behind the locked door of their Paris hotel room. They were completely engulfed in connubial relations when Lucius had sworn aloud at the familiar tingling of the Dark Mark on his left forearm. Narcissa had nearly uttered a foul word herself as she had watched her husband dress and leave, promising to be back as soon as possible and growling under his breath about how inconvenient the Dark Lord's calls could be some times. Narcissa, who hadn't brought along nightclothes or a dressing gown, dressed herself , smoothed out her hair, and went to the lobby to have a drink.

She'd watched the door for hours, it seemed, before she spotted Lucius coming through it. He seemed addled, more so even than usual when returning from the Dark Lord's business. Narcissa quickly paid her bar tab and scurried to catch up to him on the stairs.

She didn't catch him until they were at the door to the room. He looked at her, frowning, as he opened the door and let her in before following her. "You're dressed," he observed.

"Yes," she affirmed. "I can be undressed again presently," she offered. It was a bolder sentiment than she would normally allowed herself to verbalize, but she was willing to do anything to calm his obvious nerves. Lucius chuckled a little and shook his head.

"Thank you, pet," he said to her. "But it's better that you've dressed. Put on your coat," he instructed. "We're going home." Narcissa frowned, but nodded her head and did as she was told. She slipped the beautiful fur coat over her shoulders and allowed him to steer her out of the room, down the stairs, through the lobby, and out onto the street.

She felt the tug at her navel and the nauseating feeling of having her innards turned wrong side out that told her he had Disapparated the both of them. She found herself standing on the library balcony and then being led back into the house. "People are coming up the walk," Lucius told her. "You should wait in our rooms. I'll be up when I can." The two of them walked out of the door and down the hallway to the left, toward both staircases.

"Can you tell me what's going on?" she asked briefly. She had no idea if he would tell her anything at all, but it was worth a try to get him to explain his strange behavior. Lucius shook his head and pursed his lips.

"Igor Karkaroff has been captured," he told her.

"Oh heavens, no," Narcissa gasped, covering her mouth with her hands.

"Yes," he confirmed. "We're waiting to hear from Severus and from Rookwood," he shared. "There is no way to know what is going to happen now. There may be a Veritaserum administered… there's no way to know."

"And the others are coming here, so that you can all…" She wasn't sure what she was saying.

"Don't worry, pet," he assured her, leaning to kiss the top of her head. "We'll come through this just fine. We always do." Narcissa sighed heavily and nodded her head.

"Try not to be too long, darling," she encouraged him as they parted ways at the staircase to their private rooms. "I'd like to see those sheets put to good use," she whispered in conclusion.

"I'll do what I can," he assured to her, kissing her cheek and patting her on the rear as she headed up the stairs. He shook his head and headed to the living room down the hall to wait for the others and try to figure out what to do next.

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Told ya that I'd get the USB drive back and more story written. I hope that those of you who read the prologue to "This Way" don't hate me completely, and that you're on board for that bumpy ride. This ride is getting bumpier by the minute, as the plot has just thickened. So the traitor Karkaroff has been taken into custody… more later….

-MQ


	17. Chapter 17

For Peevesthepoltergeist who inspires me to fast updates

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Damn the Aurors. Damn Alastor Moody. Damn Dumbledore and Damn the Ministry.

Damn all of them.

Lucius fired off yet another curse as he ducked to avoid the glowing green of an _Avada Kedavra _from whose wand he had no idea. One advantage that the Death Eaters had enjoyed over these many years of conflict was that the Ministry had thought themselves above the use of the Unforgivable curses. The Death Eaters and their allies, however, had no objection to the use of such curses and had those among their ranks that fancied themselves experts on one or more.

Bellatrix loved the Cruciatus curse and was at this very moment enjoying putting it to use against her cousin, Sirius Black. And Arlen Gibbon had such a handle on the Imperious Curse that he had four or more Muggles standing between him and anyone who might dare assault him at any given time. The Dark Lord himself was more of an expert in all of the Unforgivable Curses than anyone could ever hope to be and he was currently flinging killing curses at the pair of Potters with whom he had made some habit of dueling. It took the both of them to stave him off, but the Death Eaters had become convinced that Lord Voldemort could have taken them out whenever he really pleased, so they dared not interfere.

It was only tonight that the Death Eaters had ever heard their opposition utter the incantation of an Unforgivable Curse. Flashes of fatal green light danced down the street and around corners and into trees and into the night sky, bathing everything in a sickening hue. There were new people there to fight them this night, Lucius was sure of it. Aurors who he recognized from his dealings at the Ministry were flinging curses left and right at the masked and hooded Death Eaters. Lucius was not happy about this. And to top it all off, he knew that they were more than a little bit outnumbered.

It was obvious to Lucius, and likely anyone else that cared to take notice, that the Aurors had been waiting for them. Karkaroff had likely sung like a bloody little bird. Damn Karkaroff right along with the rest of them.

Igor Karkaroff had been sent to Azkaban without so much as a hearing before the Wizengmot. It had been front page news that he had been arrested, and the attitude of the masses who were not in support of the Dark Lord had been that it was about time the Ministry did something about these Death Eater attacks. It was in response to this public outcry, Rookwood had later explained to them, that the Aurors had been given permission to use the killing curse whenever confronted by the soldiers of the Dark Lord.

There would be trials later on, Rookwood supposed, but for now Karkaroff was an enemy combatant and was being held as a prisoner of war. The good news was that Veritaserum was only to be administered to criminals, not to POW's and so the secrets of the Sacred Circle may be safe, but the bad news was that Karkaroff was just a sleazy enough character to have given up all manner of information to make his stay in Azkaban more palatable.

Tonight was the Muggle holiday of St. Patrick's Day and Lucius had to guess that Karkaroff had tipped off the Ministry as to the plans of the Death Eaters to do harm to a group of Muggles planning a parade. Lucius peeked his head back around the corner he'd just ducked behind in time to watch as a blinding flash of green light whiz past his head and bounce off of a metal railing just inches from where he stood.

"Lily!" he heard Sirius Black call just before several pops of Apparition came to his ears. Who the hell was running off? Lucius dashed out from where he was to stand behind a nearby dumpster and took stock of the situation. Lord Voldemort had left, as had the Potters, and Sirius Black had obviously Disapparated as well, leaving a very annoyed Bellatrix to turn her Cruciatus on the person of Alice Longbottom, an Auror who had been knocked to the ground by Lucius' last casting.

Lucius saw Moody drawing down on Bellatrix and flung a noisy and deliberate "_Sectumsempra!_" at him. The curse just missed the Auror's head and bounced off of the metal roll-up door just behind him. Bella turned from her quarry and zapped Moody with "_Crucio!_", causing him to fall to the ground in pain.

Half a dozen or more Apparitions were heard just then. Lucius looked around and saw that they were suddenly very much outnumbered. The damned Order of the Phoenix had sent for reinforcements; and they had come in spades. There might have been fifteen of them and there might have been twenty. The wounded and the cowards from both sides had long since been taken away and Lucius realized suddenly that he and Bellatrix and Evan Rosier were the only ones of their allegiance left in the alley. Lucius signaled to Bella to get the hell out of there, but she didn't manage to see him, as she flung another "_Crucio_" in Moody's direction.

Damn Bellatrix. Lucius was not about to get himself out of danger and leave Evan and Bella to deal with the small army of the enemy that had come to attack them. Bella spun around at what might have been the fifteenth pop and saw the bunch of Aurors walking toward them like so many Quidditch players approaching the pitch. She cast one further curse at Moody, and another at Alice Longbottom before Disapparating. Lucius nodded his head and prepared to go as well.

The Aurors were coming toward them quickly, but Evan seemed to be taking none of the necessary steps to get himself out of there. He was trying to pick them off one by one; flinging curses left and right at the mass of witches and wizards who were descending rapidly upon their position. He'd always knew Evan Rosier to be as vehement and mad a supporter of the cause as any other; and as impetuous a fool as any he'd ever met, but Lucius wasn't sure whether to be impressed or annoyed by Rosier's need to stand and fight at that moment.

Lucius watched in horror as a damnable flash of green light left the wand of Order member Dorcas Meadowes, and connected with Evan as he stood before them. Lucius was as sure that the Aurors had yet to see him as he was that Evan was truly dead. He gasped for air as he tried his best not to retch before managing to get enough of a hold of himself to Apparate the hell out of there.

Lucius felt the proper tug at his insides and was relieved to find himself on the moor where the Death Eaters had made themselves a field for muster. There were casualties being dealt with all around and he was glad to have spotted his friend Severus Snape tending to what he guessed to be a skull fracture on Davis Travers.

The Dark Lord was nowhere to be found, and the prevailing story seemed to be that the damned Potters had gotten away from him again and that he was none too pleased with such a thing. Bella was jumpy as she realized that her husband had taken quite a serious blow, leaving him with several broken ribs and what sounded to Charlton Avery like a punctured lung. It seemed that everyone was either wounded or tending to the wounded, and Lucius was more than happy to slump down onto the ground where he landed.

He caught his breath after a minute and stood up, divesting himself of his mask and hood and gloves. Antonin Dolohov and Walden Macnair seemed to be making the rounds of the group, acting as a sort of triage of who was wounded and how badly and who should get the attention of Snape's healing ministrations and in what order. "You alright, Lucius?" Macnair asked taking his obviously shaken colleague by the arm. Lucius nodded.

"Severus is here," he observed.

"Yeah," Macnair answered. "We did enough pseudo-damage to Wormtail Pettigrew that Severus had the excuse of going to tend to him. He'll be able to stay until everyone is seen to. Were you the last one out?" Macnair asked. Lucius nodded and took in a deep but ragged breath.

"I was," he answered. He looked his comrade in the eye and shared his news. "Evan Rosier is dead," Lucius told the older man.

"Auror?" Macnair asked, as several of their nearby colleagues began turning their attention to the conversation.

"Dorcas Meadowes," Lucius answered, running his fingers through his insanely tousled hair. "I saw it happen. He was stupid," Lucius added. "There were twenty of them if there were two. Why he didn't just get the hell out of there…" Lucius trailed off and ran his hand over his face.

"Somebody's got to tell the widow," Macnair said. Lucius nodded.

"She's with my wife," Lucius told the others. "And a few of the other wives," he added. Lucius knew that the ladies had recently gotten into the habit of meeting at one or another's house for card games or play dates with the children or fruity drinks and gossip so as to pass the time while their husbands were out on the Dark Lord's business. He also knew that tonight the bunch of them had gathered at the Rosiers' to plan a surprise birthday party for Evan, who would have been turning twenty-seven on the last day of this month.

"I think we should all go," Peter Crabbe offered, crossing in closer to the conversation. "I don't want Leah hearing that someone's died without my being right there."

"And Elle would skin me alive if I wasn't there to collect her," Jasper Goyle added. Macnair nodded and turned his head.

"Matthew!" he hollered across the field to where his son was setting a bone in Algernon Yaxley's arm with his wand. Matthew Macnair finished what he was doing and came quickly to where his father beckoned.

"What is it?" the younger Macnair asked his father, obviously aware that something was horribly wrong in the group he'd joined.

"Evan Rosier is dead," Walden Macnair shared with his son. "I believe your wife is with her tonight?"

"Yeah," Matthew sighed, "Imogene is there with her sister." He looked over at Jasper Goyle, his wife's sister's husband, who nodded in affirmation that his wife was, in fact, at the Rosiers' with Macnair's.

"Corina went over there tonight as well," Tiberius Nott commented as he crossed to the rest of them. "Narcissa invited her," he said, turning to Lucius. Yes, that was just like Cissa. She'd invite most of the ladies for what they could have told their husbands was innocuous girl talk, so that all of them would be in on getting the gentlemen to the party on Evan's birthday without any of them finding out that there was such a gathering. Narcissa trusted very few men to keep a secret, and she would have thought to invite as many female co-conspirators aboard as would fit in the Rosiers' parlor.

"Someone needs to get to that house before the Aurors do," Walden Macnair took charge again. "I've no confidence in Mrs. Rosier's ability to maintain herself under these circumstances." Lucius nodded in agreement.

"Gentlemen," he addressed his colleagues as he stripped off his Death Eater's cloak, dropping it to the ground and gesturing to the others to also divest themselves of whatever remnants of the uniform they were still wearing. "The Rosiers' back gate," Lucius instructed before Apparating himself there. He made it to the edge of the Rosiers' property easily and hurried down the path and up the patio steps into the house. He knew the others would be right behind them, and he somehow felt that he must tell Cissa before anyone else arrived. He reached the parlor where the ladies were gathered and he overheard the pleasant and musical sound of female laughter from inside.

Lucius peeked in the door and waited until someone noticed him there. A few seconds passed and he finally felt strange for standing there and chose to make his presence known. "I beg your pardon for the interruption, ladies," he said to them, moving so as to be fully in the doorway. "But may I borrow my wife for a moment?" Narcissa rose from her seat and came toward him, smiling at him as she walked.

Lucius steered her into the hallway, trying to think of just how to say what he needed to say. It seemed as though his concern was splayed out across his face, as she looked at him with clear concern on hers. "Lucius, what is it?" she asked him. "What's happened?"

"We need to move quickly, Cissa," he told her. "The other men will be here momentarily to collect their wives. You take Darly and go to our house right now," he instructed. Lucius knew that he could not keep the news of her cousin's death from Narcissa. He also knew his wife well enough to know that she would not let Darly hear of her husband's death from the mouths of the people who'd done away with him in the first place. And he knew the Ministry people enough to be certain that if Darly were to already have been crying when they got to the house to inform her, then they would know that whomever she was with would have imparted the news to her. And seeing as the only people not with the Ministry who witnessed Evan's murder were Death Eaters, it would be positively incriminating to have been the one to have given her the news.

And Lucius had no intention of incriminating himself. So the only appropriate course of action that he could see was to make certain that Darly Rosier was not home when the Ministry's stooges arrived. Lucius turned his head as he saw several of the other gentlemen approaching the parlor from the rear patio.

"Lucius, tell me what's going on," Narcissa urged him. Lucius shook his head and looked her in the eye.

"Evan was killed tonight," he stated matter-of-factly. "By Aurors," he added. Narcissa gasped.

"No," she sighed, shaking her head slowly.

"We must get everyone out of here before the Ministry comes calling," he explained. Narcissa knew that she still carried a horrified expression, but she nodded her head in acknowledgement.

"Of course," she agreed. She knew exactly why Lucius had said that. She would wait and tell Darly until they were safely back at the manor. Narcissa turned to go back into the parlor before pausing to look back at Lucius. Her lower lip was trembling and she was fighting the tears of sadness and of fright as best as she could. "I love you," she said to her husband. Lucius just nodded his head as he turned to greet his fellow Death Eaters who had come into the hall. Narcissa turned again and went back into the parlor. "Ladies," she addressed the group, "I believe we're finished, as it seems that a certain group of gentlemen have arrived to claim their wives." Narcissa giggled a little at that comment.

Lucius sighed as he listened in on the ladies in the parlor. He knew that Narcissa was ready to crack at the news she'd just heard, and yet she had managed to pull herself together well enough to seem fully calm when facing the other ladies. "And Darly," she added. "You're coming home with me, as we still have a few things to discuss." Lucius could hear the shuffle of petticoats and the clatter of teacups begin replaced in their saucers as the ladies rose to exit. "Come, come," Narcissa urged her cousin. "Quickly!" she added. Lucius watched as Narcissa came bounding out of the parlor, Darly's hand in hers, and headed out to the back gate from whence it was possible to Apparate. "Don't be too long, Lucius," Narcissa addressed to him as they dashed past. "We'll be in the private living room," she added just before disappearing out the door.

Lucius nodded. He wasn't even able to comprehend how proud he was of his wife at that moment. She was a gem. He wondered for a moment how bad it was going to be when she let herself get upset over this, and then he realized that he'd probably never know; as she was an accomplished exponent at the art of grieving in private. Lucius watched for a moment as the other men entered the parlor to collect their wives, trying to impart the urgency of the situation to his comrades so as to get them to take the women the hell home before the Ministry got there. He waited until the lot of them had gotten out of the house and then followed them to the back gate to Apparate himself home.

He would have quite a scene to deal with when he got there.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Hey- and here's a 3 chapter day again. Sometimes I just get it into my head to write and then writing gets done. This was 3 on this story and the prologue to the next one (which people hate enough to NOT review- LOL). Hope you were all prepared for Evan's death and I hope you're aware of what comes next. Revenge time is nigh… anybody remember what happened to Dorcas Meadowes??????? Please leave a review to let me know you were here (I am such a beggar) and I'll have more ASAP (but it could be tomorrow)

-MQ


	18. Chapter 18

Lucius couldn't bear to be in that room any longer. He had gone straight to the living room to check on Narcissa and Darly immediately upon his arrival home but the scene that had met his eyes when he got there was not one that he was able to deal with. It was obvious that Cissa had already shared the news with her younger cousin.

Darly was curled up on the sofa, sobbing inconsolably into Narcissa's lap. Narcissa, for her part, had her arms wrapped around Darly and was stroking the poor girl's back and patting her curls. She had tears in her own eyes as well. Lucius could not handle so much female sadness in one room at one time, and as much as he wanted to comfort his wife at this moment, the sound of Darly's sobs was too much for him to handle.

He mouthed a silent 'I love you' to Narcissa, who nodded back to him before he turned to leave the room. Narcissa smiled at him as best as she could and then turned her attention back to the sobbing girl in her arms. Lucius left the room quietly and stepped into the hall. He shook his head thinking of the grief that was going to be hanging around his home for the near future. He could think of only one thing that would quell his agitation at this point.

Lucius turned sharply to his left and made his way down the hall into his son's room. To his surprise, little Draco was wide awake in his cradle, watching the mobile of fire-breathing dragons that flew above his head. Lucius bent down and picked up his son from out of the cradle. "Hello Draco," he greeted the baby. Little Draco made a pleasant cooing noise as his father bounced him in his arm. Lucius reached into the cradle and handed his son the little silver rattle that had been his favorite for as long as he could hold a toy.

Draco smiled as he took the rattle from his father's hand and giggled. Lucius could feel tension ebbing from him as he watched his little son playing with the rattle. Draco had grown leaps and bounds over the past few months and anyone who saw him now would never have been able to guess how rough a start he'd had at life. The little one was as healthy as any Lucius had ever seen now, and his father enjoyed the boy's company more and more the older and more social he became.

He thought to take the baby to the living room. Darly couldn't possibly stay so upset with Draco about to cheer her, and Lucius was sure that Narcissa would be able to take comfort in her little son's presence as well. He clicked his tongue at his little boy as he carried him down the hall toward the living room. There was the sound of a loud 'crack' and Lucius nearly tripped over Narmin, his too tall house-elf, who had just appeared directly in his path.

"Master," Narmin addressed Lucius. "There are people coming up the drive," the elf imparted. "Ministry people," he added. Lucius frowned. He knew what was going on. The Ministry had wasted no time in getting to the Rosier place and, finding Mrs. Rosier not at home, they had chosen to come to Malfoy manor to inform Evan's cousin of her of the man's death. They'd not be allowed to go home for the night until they had informed the next of kin. Evan's parents, Richard and Eileen Rosier, had recently gone off on holiday to Kashmir and no doubt officials had been dispatched to inform them as well.

"Very well, Narmin," Lucius said to his servant. "I shall greet them at the door." Lucius shook his head and looked at his son. He was in no mood to deal with bureaucrats or prying questions at this moment, and yet he was sure that he had no real choice in the matter unless he wished to invite suspicion. Narmin disappeared with another noisy 'crack' and Lucius shrugged his shoulders. "Come along, Draco," he said to his smiling little son, "You are about to perform your first act in the service of the Dark Lord." Lucius quirked his lip at the baby as he scooted down the small stairs onto the second story and then slowly descended the grand staircase in order to greet their visitors when they arrived.

Draco would certainly make this go easier. The boy had a smile even more disarming than Narcissa's, and no one would dare suspect wrongdoing on the part of a gentleman with a baby in his arms, now would they? Lucius settled himself in the drawing room and waited for the Ministry people to join him there. It was barely a minute until Narmin showed the three officials in to the room. "Sorry to disturb you at this late hour, Mr. Malfoy," an auburn-haired young woman said to him. "I'm Amelia Hamilton Bones, from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement," she introduced herself. Lucius barely glanced in her direction.

Draco had chosen that moment to grab a hand full of Lucius' hair and he was now trying his best to disentangle the baby's fingers. "Lucius Malfoy," he said back to her by way of introduction. "Forgive me for not shaking hands," he implored them lightly, still tugging at his son's hand in his hair. Mrs. Bones chuckled.

"You're forgiven," she allowed. "I should introduce these gentlemen as well," she added. "This is Gawain Robards and this is Rufus Scrimgeour, they're from the Auror Office."

"Gentlemen," Lucius greeted them without looking up. "Come now, son," he said to Draco, "You're forcing your father to be most inhospitable." Lucius heard Mrs. Bones laugh again as he finally managed to detangle the baby's hand from his hair and interest the child in the silver rattle again. "The Auror Office, you say," he regarded the two gentlemen behind Mrs. Bones. "To what do I owe this late night call?" he asked.

"I beg your pardon, Mr. Malfoy," Mrs. Bones said to him. "But, is Mrs. Malfoy at home?" Lucius frowned at her and shook Draco's rattle hand.

"Mrs. Malfoy has retired for the evening," he told them. "You can imagine, I presume, the demands on her time of late," he regarded the gurgling infant he was holding. "And I would prefer not to disturb her, if it's all the same to you."

"It's not all the same to us," Robards piped up.

"Gawain," Bones stopped him before he could say anything more. She turned her head and frowned at him. "I beg your pardon again, Mr. Malfoy," she repeated. "But there has been a development of which we are required to inform Mrs. Malfoy."

"Again, I tell you that Narcissa's asleep," he informed them. "You may certainly inform me of any…er… developments," he assured them. Draco had begun to fuss a bit and Lucius shook his head. "Kibbitt!" he called into the air. Immediately there was a 'crack' and the elf Kibbitt appeared before the bunch of them with the baby's bottle in her hand.

"Kibbitt knowed that young master would be wanting his bottle soon," she said to her master as Lucius took the bottle from her hand and popped it into the baby's mouth.

"That will be all," Lucius told his servant. With that, there was another 'crack' and Kibbitt disappeared from sight. "I do apologize for my substandard hospitality," he said to the others in the room. "But as you see, my time is being quite monopolized." Lucius smiled down at his little son and then back at Mrs. Bones, who was smiling broadly at the baby as well.

"He's beautiful," she commented.

"Luckily he takes after his mother," Lucius kidded, adjusting Draco so that he had an easier time holding his own bottle without dropping it.

"How old?" Mrs. Bones asked, taking a step forward to get a better look at the boy.

"Nine months," Lucius answered her. This was working far too well. "But he was two months early," he shared. "So he's still a little small for his age."

"I have one at home," Mrs. Bones told him. That was a lucky break if ever there had been one. "Suzy's thirteen months."

"Is she sleeping through the night, yet?" Lucius asked, half-frowning in Draco's direction. Amelia laughed a bit and nodded.

"Oh yes," she answered. "I'm sure your little one will catch on any day," she encouraged.

"One can only hope," he asserted. "Now, you say that you have some news for my wife?" Lucius was loving this. He appreciated that there seemed to be no suspicion at all as to his whereabouts of the evening and he enjoyed that he was the one to have again brought up the unpleasant business that the Ministry people were here to conduct.

"Your wife's cousin, Evan Rosier, was killed tonight," Mrs. Bones informed Lucius.

"Oh dear," he tried his best to seem shocked. "Was Mrs. Rosier with him?" he asked. Amelia Bones shook her head.

"Not to our knowledge," she answered. "But when we went to inform her, there was no one home at the Rosiers." Lucius nodded.

"And my wife is considered the next of kin?" Lucius posited. All three of the visitors nodded. "I should tell her in the morning," he said to them. "If that will be quite alright with you." Nods again.

"Have you any idea as to the whereabouts of Mrs. Rosier?" Robards asked. Lucius shook his head.

"I'm afraid not," he answered. "Shall I inform her as well, if I see her?" he asked. "She tends to take tea with Mrs. Malfoy with some regularity."

"If you would please," Bones answered him. "I will allow you to act in your wife's stead in the interest of our having informed a next of kin," she told him. "Please see to it that your wife or Mrs. Rosier calls at the Ministry tomorrow afternoon. There is further business to be conducted."

"May I ask a question, Mrs. Bones?" Lucius said to her as the group of them began to drift out of the drawing room and back toward the entrance hall.

"Certainly," she answered.

"How did it happen?" he asked her casually. "Mrs. Malfoy will likely have questions," he explained himself.

"I'm afraid that's classified," Scrimgeour insisted.

"So bad as all that?" Lucius sounded as surprised as he could.

"I'm afraid so, Mr. Malfoy," Robards asserted.

"And I believe Mr. and Mrs. Rosier Senior are currently out of the country," he offered. He was sure that they knew it already, but Lucius figured it better to appear both dumb and helpful.

"Quite right," Mrs. Bones confirmed.

"I shall see to it that my wife and Mrs. Rosier call on you at the Ministry tomorrow, Mrs. Bones," Lucius offered.

"Thank you, Mr. Malfoy," she said to him as the group reached the door.

"Have a pleasant evening," he said to the three of them just as Narmin sprinted across the entry hall to close the door behind them. Lucius sneered to himself and then made the trip up the grand staircase and then the small one, down the hall and into the living room where he had only recently left the ladies.

Lucius found himself all manner of surprised when he opened the door to the room. Narcissa and Darly were still just as they had been when he had left, but kneeling in front of the sofa where they sat was a very concerned-looking Severus Snape.

"Severus," Lucius greeted his old friend. "I was not aware that you had arrived."

"I preferred not to be announced," he shared as he stood and crossed toward Lucius. "As I knew that there was some deception going on in your drawing room. Your elf informed me of the presence of representatives from the Auror office."

"The Auror office?" Narcissa piped up. "Lucius, whatever for?" she asked.

"Not to worry, pet," Lucius assured her. "Draco and I took care of them." Darly sat up and wiped her face with the back of her sleeve, apparently not wishing to appear so broken in the presence of gentlemen.

"I knew that you would likely bring Mrs. Rosier here," Snape informed his friend. "And I thought that Mrs. Rosier might use a bit of help keeping herself together," he added, gesturing to a row of bottles he'd obviously set on the end table. Narcissa was still rubbing Darly's back as Lucius crossed to sit on the arm of the sofa.

"Thank you, my friend," Lucius said to him. Narcissa was reaching for Draco and Lucius gladly handed his son down into her lap.

"Your son is looking as well as you are, Narcissa," Severus said to her as she settled the obviously drowsy infant in her lap.

"Thank You, Severus," she said back to him. "And thank you so much for coming tonight. We certainly appreciate your help, don't we Darly?" Narcissa turned her head to the girl next to her, who managed a nod in response.

"There is much to be done, and much to discuss beforehand," Snape reminded the others.

"Can it wait, Severus?" Narcissa asked, her voice was on the verge of cracking and she knew it. But she also knew of the business that the gentlemen were speaking of and she was fully certain that Darly was in no condition to deal with any of the realities that she would soon be facing just yet. "Can it wait just a few hours?" she asked again, shifting her eyes to the still sobbing Darly sitting next to her.

"I'm afraid not, Narcissa," Snape answered her. He frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. "But I agree with you that we needn't involve Mrs. Rosier for the time being." Narcissa nodded.

"Would you like to lie down, Darly?" Narcissa asked the younger woman. Darly just nodded and got up from her seat. "Severus," Narcissa gestured to the row of bottles on the nearby table. She knew that whatever helpful draughts that Severus had brought by, he would be the one to administer them to Darly to begin with. Instructions could be imparted for subsequent doses, but Narcissa knew from personal experience that Severus had a certain knack for these potions that could not be equaled.

The dark haired man reached out his wand from inside of his sleeve and summoned the little bottles from the table into his hand. He then gestured to Darly to follow him, which she did, as they both went slowly out of the room, Severus pulling the door closed quietly once Darly had passed from the room.

Narcissa waited until she was sure that their guests were out of earshot before dropping her head into her husband's lap. "It's so awful, Lucius," she sighed. Lucius wrapped his arm around her and bent his head to place a little kiss on the top of her head.

"Shhh, pet," he consoled her. "We shall have time to think on it later." He reached his other hand to pat his baby son's white blonde hair. Draco had fallen asleep sometime between being placed on his mother's lap and Severus' exit. "For now we have business to conduct," he reminded her.

"I love you, Lucius," she whispered as he petted her hair.

"I love you too, pet," he assured her. "And we'll get through this," he added. "I promise you everything will be alright." Narcissa was tearing and she drew herself closer to Lucius, wrapping an arm around his waist.

"What if something were to happen to you, Lucius?" she posed. "I couldn't stand it if…"

"Shhh," he interrupted her. "Everything," he repeated, pulling her still closer into his embrace. "Everything will be alright."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Thanks to O-Yossarian-O and Peevesthepoltergeist for being such wonderful reviewers. More soon! Almost at the end, you know…

-MQ


	19. Chapter 19

Lucius had always hated funerals. Ever since his mother died when he was nine years old he had loathed the ritual of gathering in the name of the dead. And lately, it seemed, he had been at far too many of them. Two Decembers ago they had buried Regulus, Orion, and Cygnus Black within days of each other; and now they were having to deal with the murder of Evan Rosier. The damned funeral held all of the pomp that was expected for the funeral of a wizard of his social stature, and Lucius had barely borne the cursed occasion.

The worst part might have been the snickers and the suspicious whispers of their 'society' friends when they learned that Evan had been a Death Eater. Lucius felt lucky that most of their close associates were also in the Dark Lord's service and had been properly schooled in seeming similarly shocked and saddened over the 'news' of Evan's 'unfortunate' and 'certainly involuntary' activity.

But even the suspicion and the nastiness couldn't compare in Lucius' mind to what this ordeal had done to his wife. Narcissa had always thought it her place to see to Darly Rosier's induction into high society, and in the wake of the death of Darly's husband, Narcissa had thought to shield the young girl from as much of the ugly business as she could. The result had been Narcissa's having almost fully handled the preparations for the funerary rights.

She had taken Darly to the Ministry and had answered many of their questions on the younger woman's behalf. She had identified Evan's body in the mortuary at St. Mungo's and had arranged to have it brought back to the Rosier's manor. She had chosen the prayers and the music that were to be included in the service, and she had seen to it that Darly had gotten appropriate amounts of food and of sleep and of the potions that Severus had left for her.

And she had run herself ragged in doing do. Lucius had thought more than once to try and slip his wife something that would force her into a good night's sleep, but knew all too well that he would never be forgiven were she to have found him out. Narcissa had gone days at a time without rest and now that the blasted funeral was over, Lucius had insisted that she come home and lie down. He had thought her to be too exhausted to argue with him, but to his surprise she had presented him with a counter offer.

Narcissa refused to go home; citing the idea that Darly's parents were coming to fetch her in the morning, but that she would not leave the girl alone in the house on the day that her husband had been buried. He'd been about to argue with her further when she had asked him what he would think about someone leaving her alone in the house had the tables been turned. He agreed that she be allowed to nap at the Rosiers'.

She'd done that a lot; thought to put herself in Darly's place. And Lucius hated it. He could see a new fear in her eyes when he was called away- even when it was only as far as to answer the door or to put Draco in his cradle. He had no idea what he could do to soothe her, so he tried his best just to never leave her alone. He sat and watched her as she slept now, pleased that she had drifted off so easily and seemed to be slumbering peacefully.

Suddenly, the door to the room swung open and Lucius sprang to his feet, wand in hand; a reflex that he had not even been aware of until it was pointed out to him by the person who stood in the now open door. "Put that away, Lucius," Bella sneered at him. "You won't be needing it," she added.

"What is it, Bella?" a drowsy Narcissa asked as she sat up on the bed and tried to smooth out her rumpled clothing. Lucius crossed the room and sat on the bed next to his wife.

"Yes, Bella," he addressed his sister-in-law, "to what do we owe this intrusion?"

"We need Darly," Bella said to them. "And Cissy's the only one who can unlock her door or remove the _Imperterbatus_."

"Is that true?" Lucius asked his wife. It sounded like something she would do. Narcissa nodded.

"I'd rather people bother me," she told him. "She needs her rest."

"So do you," Lucius reminded her. Narcissa smiled drowsily at him and shook her head.

"Soon enough," she assured him. Narcissa really didn't want Lucius worried about her, but she couldn't bear the thought of Darly having to deal with the details of her husband's death. She figured the young girl to be in no condition to do anything at all, really. "Tell me what you need, Bella," Narcissa told her sister.

"The Dark Lord has captured that filthy mudblood who killed our cousin," Bella shared with them. "He is prepared to do away with her, but he wishes that we invite the widow to witness the festivities." Lucius frowned at Bella. He was certain that she wasn't telling falsehoods; as Bellatrix seemed to spend large portions of her day at the Dark Lord's feet and she would likely be the first to know if he had captured someone.

"We should issue the invitation," Narcissa agreed, rising from the bed and stretching a little. "Let me do the talking, please?" she implored both her husband and her sister. Both of them frowned, but nodded their acceptance.

Narcissa led them down the hall and to the double doors of the room where Darly lay sleeping. She passed her wand over the lock and opened the door a crack. Narcissa sighed as she saw the young widow sitting on the edge of her bed, looking out the window at the garden below. The sun had just finished setting, but Darly seemed not to have even noticed that it was dark in the room. Narcissa turned to Lucius, who seemed to guess what she was asking of him and passed his wand about to light the candles and lamps that were scattered around the room.

"Darly?" Narcissa called. Darly turned her head toward the door where the Narcissa stood flanked by Lucius and Bellatrix. Narcissa moved into the room and crossed to stand directly in front of her cousin. "Darly," she addressed the girl again. "We've come with news," she said.

"News?" Darly asked, her eyes still staring straight ahead.

"Yes Darly," Narcissa answered. "News which may be of interest to you."

"Nothing interests me, Cissy," Darly answered, finally looking up.

"This might," Bella injected.

"Bella," Narcissa admonished gently. "I told you to let me tell her."

"Tell me what?" Darly asked. Narcissa sat down next to Darly on the edge of the bed and took both of the younger girl's hands in hers.

"Darly," she began with a sigh, "The Dark Lord has captured the witch responsible for your husband's death." Narcissa paused for a moment to let the news sink in. "He has asked if you wish to attend the execution," she finished. Darly shook her head and Narcissa could see tears forming in her eyes again. Narcissa let go of Darly's hands and drew her into an embrace. "I hate to put any pressure on you," she consoled, "but you'll need to make a decision rather quickly; as the Dark Lord does not relish being kept waiting."

"I can't," Darly sniffed. "I couldn't. If I so much as saw her… I don't know what I'd do. I think I'd die on the spot. I can't go- not even to watch her die; not even to see her dead already." Darly shook her head and drew back a bit. "You go for me, Cissy?" she implored. "Please? Please go and see it done?" Narcissa was taken aback a bit by this request and she tried very hard to keep it from her face. "I know it's a lot to ask," Darly added. "You've done so much for me already… but I couldn't handle it- I know I couldn't. I need to know, though, from someone I trust… You've met him before, you told me yourself… please?" Narcissa took Darly's hands again as she nodded her agreement.

"I will go," she assured Darly. "You'll be alone here," she explained, "with only Draco and his nurse. Will you be alright?" Darly nodded.

"May I see the baby while you're gone?" she asked. Narcissa nodded.

"Of course you can," she allowed. "You may have him brought here if you wish."

"Thank you," Darly said to her. Narcissa stood up and nodded her head.

"You're welcome," she answered, bending to kiss Darly on the forehead. "Bella," she addressed to her sister. "Take me to the Dark Lord." Bella led Narcissa out of the bedroom as Lucius followed behind them.

"You coming, Lucius?" Bella spat. Lucius frowned at his sister-in-law before answering her.

"You will not take my wife to an audience with the Dark Lord without my attendance," he replied. In most things, Lucius would not have trusted Bellatrix as far as he could throw her without the assistance of his wand, but he did know that she loved Narcissa nearly as much as he did and that she would protect her fiercely if the need arose. Still, he could not fathom the idea of his wife being taken to the Dark Lord's side without his being there with her; particularly in the mental state she'd been in of late.

Bellatrix led her sister and brother-in-law out of the house and to the back gate of the property, to the edge of the wards from whence it was possible to Apparate. "You know where we're going, Lucius," she addressed to him. "I'll take Cissy," she added before taking hold of Narcissa's arm and Apparating away.

Lucius quickly Apparated himself to the moor where he was sure that Bella had taken his wife. He caught up to Narcissa just in time to take hold of her hand as Lord Voldemort appeared in front of them. As soon as he was fully corporeal, the body of a woman appeared at His feet, crumpled as though she were in pain.

"Go ahead, Bellatrix," Voldemort allowed. Bella laughed out loud and moved toward the woman.

"_Crucio_!" Bella shouted, her wand pointed in the direction of the broken witch on the ground. Obviously Lord Voldemort had known what she wanted. He looked down and nodded His head, satisfied that Bella had done her job well enough. Lord Voldemort then looked up at the others who had Apparated in with Bellatrix.

"Narcissa Malfoy," Lord Voldemort greeted her. "To what do I owe this?" He asked her, his voice still the hiss that Lucius found at the same time familiar and unsettling.

"I am here on the behalf of the widow," she answered Him. "She has asked me to attend this occasion in her stead." Narcissa looked the Dark Lord in the eyes and added; "If it pleases m'lord."

"I am quite pleased," Lord Voldemort answered her. "Give me your arm, Lucius," He instructed. Lucius did as he was told, presenting the under side of his left arm to the Dark Lord, who pressed the tip of His wand into the black outline of the skull and serpent that was tattooed there. Lucius gasped with the sensation of it, but Narcissa somehow knew better than to turn her head to look at him. She kept her gaze on Lord Voldemort and waited until He turned his attention back to her. "I was under the impression that you did not care for this ugly work, Narcissa Malfoy," the Dark Lord said to her, "Have you had some change of heart?"

"No," she answered firmly. "No," she repeated. "But Evan was family," she asserted. "And his wife asked that I be her witness. And so I am here."

"Do you wish to fell the killing blow, Narcissa Malfoy?" He asked her. Narcissa shook her head. Suddenly, and as if out of nowhere, streams of black smoke and pops of Apparition were all around her. Narcissa found herself in the center of a vast number of concentric circles of masked and hooded Death Eaters. "Ah," Lord Voldemort commented, "the other guests have arrived."

"Other guests?" Narcissa half-asked Him.

"This is an occasion," Lord Voldemort said back to her. "And you haven't answered me," He reminded her. "Do you wish to do the honors?" He gestured with His wand to the writhing woman on the ground at their feet.

"No, thank you m'lord," she answered him. "I will take no joy in this," she added. Lord Voldemort turned quickly to the woman and pointed his wand at her.

"This is Dorcas Meadowes," He announced to the assembled group. "This is the filth that dared take one of our own from us. I will invite you all to bear witness to what happens to those who dare defy me!" He turned His head for a moment to give Narcissa a nod in acknowledgement. "_Avada Kedavra_!" He shouted as a flash and then a haze of green shot from the tip of His wand to engulf the woman on the ground before them. Instantly, she stilled and Bellatrix retired her wand to her pocket. The Dark Lord turned again to Narcissa, who felt her face scrunched into a grimace she hadn't expected. She tried to settle herself, but she was sure that Lord Voldemort had sensed her discomfort. "You look distressed," He said to her.

"I beg m'lord's pardon," she answered. "But I have mentioned before that I haven't the stomach to witness such activity."

"My pardon is yours," the Dark Lord replied. "Tell me, though, why you chose to come here when you have such distaste for the business that was to occur." Narcissa took a deep breath and squeezed Lucius' hand, which she hadn't let go of since they'd arrived. She considered for a moment and then looked Lord Voldemort in the eye; giving him the only answer that she was able to.

"One does what one must do."

-FIN

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So sorry this got here so late: FFDN was not letting me upload and then I had rehearsal- so here this is now :)

Thanks to all of you who have read and reviewed! I hope you liked the way it ended. I find it important for Narcissa to have witnessed a murder by this point, so that she has a bigger stake in later events… Please let me know what you thought. And I know you ALL HATE the next piece I'm working on, but it's going up this evening anyway. See you soon!!!

-MQ


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